Free Mr. Arrogant: A Billionaire Romance by Alexis Gold Page A

casually and led her outside to the garden and courtyard where the other guests were milling around, talking and visiting as they ate and drank. She felt his hand touch her lower back and with nothing more than a few fingers against the material and her body, he guided her through small groups of people toward an older man who was standing with Phillip.
    The light touch of his fingers on her back drew warmth up through her belly and she did her level best to maintain her breathing and walk with a steady step. She wanted to stop walking and turn to him so she could wrap her arms around him and feel his arms around her, but that was nothing more than a daydream, and before she could stop herself from thinking further about it, they reached the two men.
    Phillip smiled at her and reached for her hand to welcome her.
    “Hello Naomi!” he said pleasantly. He turned to the man beside him. “Vincent, this is Naomi Bradshaw, she is Jonathon’s assistant. Naomi, I’d like you to meet Vincent Grayson. He is a business partner of mine, and my oldest and dearest friend.” Phillip nodded.
    Vincent shook her hand and gave her a nod. He was tall and thin with wide cheekbones and dark eyes that time had sunk back into their sockets. His lips were thin and his eyebrows were bushy and wiry.
    “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Bradshaw.” He said with a voice as thin as his body was.
    She wondered if he really meant it as she let go of his bony hand and disinterested grip.
    “Likewise,” she said in a soft voice.
    Jonathon looked at both of the men and gave them a nod. “Well, we had better get started on our guests! Gentlemen.”  He gave another nod and then turned himself and Naomi around and she felt his hand on her back as he walked them away.
    “You don’t want to talk with them?” she asked in surprise. It had been the shortest meeting she could remember in a long while.
    Jonathon tipped his head a little. “It was a formality. We have people to talk with.”
    His close proximity to her was distracting her, and she knew that if she was going to get any work done at all, she was going to have to do it without standing right next to him and definitely without his hand on her back or her arm.
    Sighing, she looked up at him again and smiled a little. “I saw Janine Turner over there when we first came in. I need to talk with her about a few things, so I’ll go do that, and you can find Anthony Bryan, if he’s here.”
    He realized that she was serious about doing the business that needed to be done, and he was pleased to hear it, although he was disappointed that she didn’t want to be at his side for all of it. He nodded and as she walked away, his eyes stayed on her and he allowed himself a moment to watch her as she walked away from him, her graceful movements and feminine curves at the center of his focus. A soft moan escaped him and when it did, it startled him and he blinked and turned away from her to see if he could find Anthony.
    In every minute that passed from the moment they parted, she watched him from the corner of her eye, even as she talked with others, she was hyper aware of where he went as they moved around the party. It felt as though there was some invisible magnetic connection between them that tethered them together and nothing could touch it. It seemed as though the bond held the same strength no matter how near or far they were from one another.
    When he was close enough to her, she listened to his voice as he spoke, and she realized at one point that he was doing exactly the same thing. They never spoke to other people at the same time, but she saw him turn his head slightly so that he could hear her, and she saw that his eyes followed her the way that hers followed him. She noticed after a while that he never turned his back on her, and would only face just far enough away from her that he could still see her.
    She wondered at his actions, curious as to why he was keeping such a close eye and ear on