Chapter 1
Chapter One
Elena — The First Collision
The first time I met Alexander Blackwood, I spilled champagne down his thousand-dollar suit.
It wasn’t entirely my fault.
The waiter had decided to walk directly behind me while I was carrying a tray of champagne glasses, someone bumped into my shoulder, and apparently the universe had decided that humiliation was on the menu.
The champagne flew.
So did my dignity.
The glass shattered against the marble floor.
And three hundred pairs of expensive eyes turned toward me.
“Oh, shit.”
The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them.
A silence descended over the ballroom.
Then I looked up.
He was standing directly in front of me.
Alexander Blackwood.
The billionaire.
The man whose name appeared in financial magazines, business newspapers and whispered conversations between people who desperately wanted something from him.
He was taller than I’d expected. Broad shoulders beneath a perfectly tailored black suit. Dark hair. Sharp jaw. Eyes so cold they could probably freeze champagne.
And champagne was currently dripping from his shirt.
His expression didn’t change.
I swallowed.
“I’m so sorry.”
His gaze moved slowly from the stain on his shirt to my face.
“Are you?”
I blinked.
“Yes.”
“You don’t look sorry.”
“I assure you, I’m extremely sorry.”
One eyebrow lifted.
“Extremely?”
I glanced at the champagne spreading across his shirt.
“Catastrophically sorry?”
For one terrifying second, I thought he might smile.
He didn’t.
Instead, he leaned slightly closer.
“You have no idea who I am, do you?”
I looked at the billionaire standing in front of me.
“Unfortunately, I do.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I know exactly who you are.”
“And yet you still managed to throw champagne at me.”
“I didn’t throw it.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
I looked at the shattered glass.
“The champagne attacked you.”
His mouth twitched.
Barely.
But I saw it.
And somehow that tiny movement was more unsettling than his anger.
“I’ll have someone deal with the damage,” he said.
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
He walked past me.
Then stopped.
Without turning around, he said, “Try not to attack anyone else tonight.”
I stared at his back.
“Try not to be so dramatic.”
He stopped.
Slowly, he turned.
His eyes met mine.
For the first time, I realized exactly what I’d done.
I’d challenged Alexander Blackwood.
And judging by the look on his face, he liked it.
