Free Ruined (A Dark Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Katie Silver

adored and cared for by someone with depth and intelligence.
     
    As I wandered through the throngs of guests, I felt a tinge of jealousy. Those models might not be good enough for Blake, but certainly some of the women at this party were better suited for him. The strikingly beautiful, refined women with Ivy League graduate degrees, and blood that ran blue as the ocean milled about sipping champagne and making witty conversation with the top business executives. Those were the type of women that deserved a man like Blake Harrison. I had let silly fantasies get a hold of me, but I was just a low-level temporary employee from a small town that no one here had ever heard of and I would never be enough for someone like Blake.
     
    “Hey, would you like to dance?” asked a cute guy in his twenties, with brown hair and a pert nose.
     
    “Me?” I replied in confusion, looking around to see if there was another girl standing nearby.
     
    “Yeah. Did you come with someone? Sorry, I just saw you standing here looking so pretty and I thought you were alone.”
     
    I felt a warm blush creep up my cheeks. The guy looked like a model, with floppy brown hair hanging over his eyes and soft, rounded lips. I couldn’t believe he was calling me pretty.
     
    “Oh, thanks,” I mumbled before managing to pull myself together. “I, um, have to take care of some things. But maybe a rain check?”
                 
    “Sure, I’ll catch you later.” The cute guy walked back into the crowd and I stood frozen for a few minutes. I tried to remind myself that he probably was just fooled by my designer gown, but I still felt giddy.
     
    A quick glance at my watch brought me back to earth. It was only five minutes until Mr. Harrison’s grand entrance. I ran as quickly as I could in my Louboutins and made sure all the performers were in their positions. Finally I nodded to the lighting designer in the corner booth.
     
    The lights around us dimmed and the gentle music stopped. The crowd glanced around as the lights went dark and the chatter died down as everyone focused on the small, glimmering lights in the corners of the ceiling. A gasp went through the crowd as the acrobats in their glittering black leotards came flying across the room on the wood and rope swings that had just been released from the ceiling.
     
    Each acrobat carried a tiny light that illuminated only a little corner of the room. As each acrobat performed her routine, flying, jumping, and twirling with the tiny twinkling lights, I glanced over at the grand staircase.
     
    I saw a tiny flutter and knew it was time. Several things happened in perfect harmony. The acrobats extinguished their respective lights, the music picked up again, but this time it was the popular indie rock band playing their hit song, and the lights turned on, starting with the chandelier over the staircase, which illuminated the lone figure standing on the center landing.
     
    The audience clapped and laughed as Blake emerged from the darkness in his tailored tux, looking imposing and incredible handsome as he walked purposefully down the stairs and into the throngs of guests.
     
    The entrance was perfect. Elegant, exciting, and mysterious. I felt the same thrill as the guests as Blake Harrison appeared among us. I tried to push my way towards him, but the crowd of people circled tightly around him as soon as he reached the bottom step.
     
    “Are you ready for that dance yet?” I turned to see the attractive boy from earlier.
     
    “Sure. But I’m warning you that I’m not a great dancer,” I replied, licking my lips nervously.
     
    Popular dancing was yet another activity my parents had forbidden. I had danced secretly in my room with headphones on, listening to all my favorite boy bands in high school. But I had never really danced with a boy the way most girls knew how.
     
    “I’m sure you are great, with a body like that.” The boy took my hand and gently pulled me to him,