Business events like the Christmas party we throw at The Luminare every year are normally the bane of my existence—socializing is more Paul’s strength than mine—but to my surprise, I find that I’m actually enjoying myself this time. Of course, the stunning girl in my arms is a huge part of that.

“You’re an excellent dancer, Hannah,” I tell her, having a hell of a time keeping my hands from wandering despite the many business associates that surround us.

“Thank you,” Hannah says, smiling up at me. Then her breath hitches, cheeks going pink, and my cock stirs at the look on her face.

“Naughty girl,” I whisper, leaning down to brush my lips against her bare neck. I laugh softly when she shivers, knowing for sure that she’s thinking of the same thing I am—how I’ve recently started… encouraging her to express her gratitude in the bedroom.

“Where did you learn to dance, sweetheart?” I ask, giving her the chance to move on to a less risqué topic. Not that I don’t enjoy teasing her, but for as much as I’m genuinely enjoying the party, it’s still a business function. An important one, since Jia and Cheng Koh have agreed to officially sign the investment contract tonight for the new property we’ll be developing.

With that thought in mind, I glance around the ballroom until I catch sight of my friend Bill Crenshaw, our corporate attorney. He’s dancing near the buffet table with his husband, and when I catch his eye he gives me a wink and a subtle nod at his wristwatch. We’ve agreed to do the paperwork with the Kohs at ten o’clock sharp, which means this is my final dance with Hannah before I step away to take care of that business.

“Jessie used to take dance lessons when she was little,” Hannah says, answering my earlier question and pulling my attention back to where I wish it could stay. Not that I’m not thrilled to finalize things with the Kohs, of course, but recently, business has started to take a backseat to other priorities.

To Hannah.

“So Jessie can dance, too?” I ask, grinning down at her.

I wouldn’t have believed it before meeting Hannah, but it’s true: if push came to shove, business would come second. She is my priority now.

“Jessie’s an… enthusiastic dancer,” Hannah says, eyes sparkling with laughter. “After our parents died—” her breath hitches slightly, causing my heart to squeeze painfully for her, but with only the slightest pause, she goes on without losing her smile, “—I couldn’t afford her dance lessons anymore, so we’d watch YouTube tutorials and practice dancing together at home whenever I wasn’t working.”

“Well, it definitely paid off, sweetheart,” I tell her tenderly, tightening my grip on her waist as I vow to get Jessie back in dance class—and whatever other classes she’s interested in—as soon as Hannah and I settle things about our future.

First, though, I need to settle the matter of our next property development.

The song ends and Paul appears at my side, bouncing excitedly on his toes. “Ready, Luke?” he asks, nodding in the direction of the Kohs. “Let’s wrap this baby up with a bow!”

It looks like Bill Crenshaw has already joined the Kohs, and with a couple of the staff surrounding the discreet corner table to maintain an area of privacy, Bill is laying out the documents that we’ll all be signing tonight while he talks animatedly with Jia and Cheng.

Paul turns to Hannah. “You don’t mind if I steal your man away for a moment, do you, beautiful?”

I narrow my eyes at that, tugging Hannah against my side possessively. I know Paul doesn’t mean anything by it—he knows damn well she’s mine—but I can no more stop my reaction than I can stop breathing.

Paul laughs, confirming my suspicion. He was trying to rile me up, wasn’t he?

I snort back a laugh, refusing to admit it worked.

“You can borrow him,” Hannah says to Paul sweetly, leaning against my side like she knows she belongs there, too. “But please give him back to me afterward.”

“Planning to keep him, are you?” Paul teases her, winking in a subtle reminder of the original arrangement that had brought her into my life.

Instead of joking back, though, Hannah goes pink, biting her lip nervously as her glance darts up to meet mine and then bounces away again. It just about kills me to see the doubt in her eyes. Maybe I should have made my intentions clearer, but I’ve wanted to hold off until our “contract” is done—until the Kohs leave and the development deal is finalized—so that Hannah has no doubt why I want her in my life. So that she feels no obligation to say yes unless it’s what she wants, too.

I tamp down my impatience. Tomorrow is Christmas. I can wait until then.

I lean down to kiss her before taking my leave with Paul, keeping it chaste with an effort. “I won’t be long, love,” I tell her, noting with satisfaction the way her eyes widen at the new endearment “Wait for me?”

“Always,” she breathes out, fingers brushing against the spot my lips touched as the sweet temptation of her mouth curves up into a smile.

With one last peck, I turn and head to the table where the Kohs and Bill Crenshaw await. Paul is talking my ear off and the Kohs are slightly inebriated, and it’s not until we’ve made it halfway through the contracts that I realize Hannah isn’t keeping her promise. She’s mine, which is the only explanation I have for the sixth sense that has my eyes searching the ballroom for her at the exact moment she’s preparing to leave it.

I frown, the Montblanc pen I’ve always used for official matters poised over the document that will seal the deal with the Kohs. Hannah promised to wait for me, and yet there can be no mistaking her slim form as she hurries toward the exit… when I see why, a bolt of adrenaline shoots through me, snapping me to attention.

She’s following a smaller figure clad in a distinctive set of purple glittering PJs that I purchased myself.

What’s Jessie doing in the ballroom when the hotel nanny should have had her in bed an hour ago, and why is she here—where she doesn’t belong—on her own?

Jessie scurries out of the ballroom before I have time to draw another breath, but Hannah pauses at the threshold for a moment, glancing back over her shoulder and catching my eye. She’s trembling, I can see it from here, and she’s as white as a ghost.

“Shit,” I hiss, the Montblanc falling from my hand when she turns and rushes out after her sister.

“Luke?” Bill asks, his confusion echoed by the Kohs and Paul a moment later.

I don’t have time to explain, though. Hell, I don’t have enough facts to explain. All I know is that something’s wrong, and whatever it takes, I’m going to go make it right.

Hannah needs me, and there’s nothing else that matters, not even a multi-million dollar hotel deal.