I couldn’t have described him in all his glory if I tried for a week. There just weren’t words in the English language, to describe the aura that seemed to surround him. Gorgeous, sexy, debonair—I could have gone on and on, but it wouldn’t have been nearly enough.

All I could do was admire how majestic he looked in his black suit, the collar of his white shirt open at the throat just like it had been that night on the front steps. He wore a black trench coat with a gray scarf that matched his steely eyes. How were other men at the party going to cope with all this masculine perfection?

His eyes shifted from Megan to me, and I wondered if I imagined them widening just a little bit.

“Wow,” he breathed.

Every cell in my body tingled at that single sound, that one-syllable word coming from his mouth. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention. A shiver ran through me as his eyes took me in from head to toe.

“Do I pass muster?” I murmured.

He didn’t say a word. He just kept staring.

“So, I’m Megan,” my best friend said, still standing at the door. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh!” Max chuckled, then shook her hand. “It’s good to meet you. Max Black.”

“I know,” she said, sounding a little giggly. I told myself that couldn’t be her. She was the most together person I knew. Men didn’t make her giggle like that. I rarely made her giggle and I was her best damn friend.

“Well, this is great, but I think we should go. We don’t want to miss the effigy I’m sure Lillian and her friends are burning in my honor.”

I pulled my coat from the rack, and Max was by my side in a moment to help me put it on. Did I imagine his hand lingering on my shoulder? It felt pretty good, imaginary or not.

“I’ve got your back,” Max assured me. “Nobody’s burning you in effigy while I’m around.”

“I feel so much better now,” I joked, but when I looked at him—we were a bit closer in height, thanks to Megan’s shoes—he wasn’t smiling. He meant it. For once, he was being dead serious.

Megan went into the bedroom to get her things together, leaving me alone with Max for a moment. He looked me up and down again. “Speaking strictly from the friend zone, you look incredible,” he said softly.

I felt myself blushing all over and couldn’t meet his gaze. The tightening in my chest and core were too much. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” I said awkwardly. Boy, what an understatement. There should be an award for understatements like that.

“I clean up all right,” he shrugged. “But you…”

“You know, you’re starting to make me wonder how bad I look the rest of the time,” I whispered with a wink.

His eyes gleamed. “I remember what you looked like last night.”

I swallowed hard. My decision to stay away from him after tonight was already flying into the danger zone. “Huh, trust you to only remember that.”

“Oh, no. I remember all the way back to the night we met.”

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the intimate tone of his voice. Was I kidding myself? Because he was sounding like he was really into me. Unless it was just his technique. I stared into his eyes. I wanted to make a joke. Say something funny, break the tension, but I was completely tongue-tied.

“All right, kids. Have fun,” Megan said, putting on her coat as she walked through the living room. She was not looking at either of us. I could already imagine what was going on in her head. I might as well clear a huge chunk of tomorrow to make time for the marathon phone call we’d have.

“We’re out of here too. We’ll take the elevator together,” Max suggested. I almost wished he’d let her go since I suddenly wanted to be alone with him. I wanted him to look at me the way he had when he first saw me, as I tingled and shivered and felt warm all over. I decided my credit card could handle the damage if it meant him looking at me that way.

The three of us left the apartment and walked down the hall. Max chatted with Megan. Once she got over that first surge of blood to her brain at the sight of him—I knew how that went since I felt the same way when I saw him in that suit and coat—she more than held her own. As always, she was witty and funny and interesting. I wished I could be like her.

Still, even though he talked with her, his hand was on my elbow as we left the building.

“Have a great night,” Megan called out. I threw a glance her way as I climbed into the limo—yes, another limo—and she gave me two thumbs up. Then, when Max wasn’t looking, she fanned herself and while rounding her eyes and panting. I rolled my eyes and the limo pulled away from the curb.

“She seems nice,” Max said with a smile.

“She’s the best.” But I wasn’t smiling. It hit me harder than ever that we were heading into the belly of the beast. I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as I kept imagining it.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, reading my mind. His hand touched mine, tentatively at first. When I didn’t pull away, his fingers closed over mine and squeezed, gently. A lightning bolt traveled up my arm and all through my body. “We’ll have a good time.”

“I hope you’re right,” I breathed, my heart racing. I told myself it was only nerves and not his touch.