Gone With the Wolf by Kristin Miller Page B

to be protected from you, Drake. Not anymore. Come on.” Emelia slipped from his hold and headed toward the stairs. “I don’t want to miss this.”
    The host’s voice continued to rumble through the hall as Drake escorted Emelia down the grand staircase and found their seats at the edge of the room. For the first time since he’d hosted the gala, Drake wondered how quickly he could slip out of the hall and take Emelia somewhere private.
    “She was born in 1850 to a poor family from New York City and passed away in San Francisco in 1938. Serephina Vanguard had no children, and instead chose to donate her time raising the creative climate of San Francisco. Her legacy continues, only through the grace of supporters like you.”
    Drake pinched his eyes shut as he pushed in Emelia’s chair, hoping she didn’t pay attention to the details in the host’s speech. The burn-through-his-skin glare Drake received when he sat beside Emelia proved his worst fears.
    “You told me she was your mother.” She leaned over without looking at him, and talked to his shoulder. “You either lied to me, or you’re the most gorgeous elderly guy I know. Serephina died in the thirties.”
    “I’ll explain everything,” Drake said, as chills scampered down his neck, “but my introductory speech comes first.”
    She shot him a scowl, her eyes narrowing to slits. “What reason would you have to lie about something like that?”
    The words were a hammer to the heart. Drake couldn’t stand it anymore. When they hadn’t yet ironed out the deed issue, Emelia thought Drake was a scoundrel. Now that he’d finally hurdled that obstacle, Emelia thought he was liar. He should’ve kept her upstairs until the host called his name. He could’ve pressed her against one of those pillars and kissed her until the only thing she could hear was the fevered rush of blood in her ears.
    But no. Just when he got Emelia to trust him, he faced a disbelieving frown. Seemed they were destined to dance the one-step-forward, two-step-back tango.
    “And now, may I introduce our man of the hour…”
    “I didn’t lie,” Drake said, placing a hand on her knee. The urge to tell Emelia about what he really was, about the role she played in his life and his heart as his Luminary, struck him hard and true. That’s it…he’d tell her everything tonight. Once they were alone. “I told you that I’d explain what’s going on, and I will…after my speech. We’ll go somewhere quiet where we can talk, and I’ll tell you things I should’ve told you when we first met.”
    “…the man who is responsible for putting this evening together, the philanthropist who has donated more money to the Vanguard Foundation than all of our other supporters combined…”
    “What kind of things?” Emelia asked, ducking as a spotlight swept over them. “What should you have told me?”
    “Mr. Russell D. Wilder!”
    Applause swarmed like bees as blinding spotlights homed in on Drake. In that instant, he became the burning ant beneath a sun-scorched magnifying glass. Every move he made was analyzed, every word dissected.
    He smiled and waved. Like he’d been trained. “Promise that you’ll stay right here,” he said into Emelia’s ear. “Stay here until I come back for you.”
    Taking his notecards from his pocket, Drake marched on stage and tried to focus on what he was doing this for…instead of the woman glaring at him from table five.

Chapter Ten
    Why was she prone to canoodling with liars? The entire length of Drake’s speech, Emelia thought back over everything he’d said. She believed him when he talked about Serephina Vanguard on the balcony. He’d looked sincere, almost pained, when he talked about her passing and how much he’d done for the project.
    She needed fresh air. She needed a chance to think without thousands of eyes staring at her, wondering who she was and why she deserved to be here with Drake, the world’s most eligible bachelor.
    Emelia