Free One Condition (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #1) by Nova Raines

the East Coast. Of course, those were hosted by old money families, where a daughter of a rock star could never quite be accepted. But tonight I’m in my element, regardless.
    I throw my shoulders back, hold my small evening clutch in one hand, and walk with Char through the entryway.
    We enter the foyer, and I’m standing on top of a large marble “S” inlaid in the floor. The ceiling rises above us, all glass windows and crystal chandeliers. This is all so familiar. It’s like a bigger version of my dad’s house. A table off to the left has been decorated with a gorgeous orchid flower arrangement that reminds me of my last trip to Hawaii. Eight years ago. With my dad, even if he did party hard the whole time. My good mood wilts a little.
    Wide stairs curve down from both ends of the foyer, and my eyes land on a group of people who are heading down from upstairs. Mostly women, but then… Every muscle in my body tenses.
    Kaidan’s with them. I’m staring, and I can’t stop. His gorgeous face, high cheekbones, strong jaw… He’s clean-shaven tonight and wearing a tux. He looks like he just stepped out of another era. One of the women on the stairs with him, a blonde, caresses his arm, and he offers her a smile and laughs at something she says.
    My cheeks flush, and a surge of jealousy courses through me. I want him to look at me that way. I want it so bad it hurts. His gaze sweeps the foyer, and he meets my eyes. My lips part, but he looks at me like I’m a stranger. His expression hardens, and he averts his eyes.
    Char grabs my hand. “What a dick. Screw him.”
    She gestures toward the ballroom, and I force myself to focus on what she’s looking at, even though my body feels the pull of Kaidan, even across the huge foyer, like he’s some kind of magnet. Like I won’t ever feel right ‘til we’re next to each other.
    Char squeezes my arm, and I follow her gaze. “Werewolf Chronicles,” she says in a quiet, singsong voice.
    It’s Cole Hudson and Liam Hart, standing at the other end of the foyer with Jessa , about to enter the ballroom.
    “I do not want to see that girl,” I say.
    “Forget her ,” she says, keeping her voice low. She smiles at me and then glances back at Cole and Liam. “We can both leave with goody bags tonight.”
    I take a deep breath. I don’t want a goody bag. I want Kaidan . He appears in my peripheral vision, and I try not to look. That blonde is hanging onto him still, and they disappear through the ballroom right behind Char’s goody bags.
    I hate the bitch on his arm right now. I want it to be me. I’m so jealous that it isn’t. “Let’s go find the bar.”
    Music pumps through the speakers in the ballroom, and they’re playing a song by an act signed to Stone Records. The round tables in here are decorated with more orchids. I desperately seek the bar and find it at the edge of the ballroom. Char and I get our first drinks and then spend the next hour people-watching and snatching hors d’oeuvres off the silver trays going around.
    I haven’t seen Calvin Stone or Serena Lynn, and I’m almost relieved about that.
    I try not to look for Kaidan, but I glimpse him once, leaving the ballroom with the blonde and her friends. I don’t see him again after that, and my imagination insists on sending me images of what he might be doing with her in some quieter part of this mansion.
    We’re nursing our second round of drinks when Bia and her friends walk into the ballroom, and Char brightens.
    “I want to talk to her,” Char says.
    Bia sits down at one of the tables, and her two friends head for the bar.
    “Yeah. So? I don’t.”
    “I do. Now’s a great time to remind her who I am,” she says, excited. She grabs my hand and drags me toward Bia. I shake her hand off and straighten my shoulders as we arrive. Bia’s got her phone out, and she looks up.
    “Hey, Bia! Nice seeing you again,” Char says with a bright wave.
    Bia stares at her blankly, and then her eyes