Free Marked: City of the Damned Book 1 by Everly Drummond Page A

have fun. I have all the company I need
right here.” Jaden picked up a full bottle of wine and dangled it
in the air, sloshing a few crimson droplets on the white
tablecloth.
    Without a backward glance, the couple
disappeared into the throngs of people that now crowded the dance
floor, their bodies swaying in time to the music. Jaden knew she
would regret it in the morning, but she poured herself another
glass of wine. Turning in her seat, she faced the dancing and
noticed that the VIP tables had been moved out of the way. Where
Mr. Oh So Sexy had been just moments ago, a baby grand now sat
beside the stage.
    Trying to appear casual, Jaden scanned the
room, her eyes coming to rest on a group of men just outside the
tent. Among them was the man she’d been watching all night. Maybe
it was the wine, or perhaps the softness of the moonlight, which
cast an iridescent glow around him, but impossibly, he looked even
more spectacular than he had earlier in the evening.
    A plume of smoke lingered for a moment in the
air above them as the men took turns lighting their cigars, but the
smoke was soon carried off by the breeze from the ocean, only one
hundred yards away. There was something about the way he held his
cigar in one hand, his wine in the other, that made him look regal,
dashing, like a real Prince Charming.
    Jaden took a deep, cleansing breath, throwing
caution to the wind and preparing to march over and introduce
herself, but as she stood, a woman in a short, black dress, who was
dripping with sex appeal, strolled up beside him. She leaned
against him as she whispered in his ear. His roaring laughter
echoed in the cool night air, and the woman now dangling from his
arm was all the deterrent Jaden needed to abandon any intention of
introducing herself.
    Placing her empty wine glass on the table,
Jaden steadied herself with the chair beside her and stood.
Dizziness overtook her as the wine rushed to her head, and she
grasped the edge of the table for support. When she was certain her
lightheadedness had passed, she retrieved her purse from the back
of the chair and went in search of the ladies’ room.

    The Winemaker’s
Dinner: Appetizers, is published by Omnific
Publishing and is available now
on all online retail book outlets.