Carmen and Will were greeted at the door by a pretty blond who escorted them to their table. Carmen could feel people's speculative eyes on her and Will as they crossed the room and approached their table. Maybe it was because she looked as if she had just had the kiss of a lifetime.

Carmen noted that Kelly Harper, a fellow Landau model, was already there with her escort for the evening, a very tall, dark, and much older man that Carmen vaguely recognized but she wasn't sure how. Kelly introduced him as Xavier only, and Carmen gave him a brief nod in greeting, not liking the vibe she was getting from him. Kelly had a real talent for picking questionable men.

Carmen turned her attention to the rest of the table and noted that there were a few other well-known faces among the table reserved for ten. Mason and Cassandra Stevens and Bryce and Grace Stevens were also present. Mason and Bryce were Quinn and Davis's brothers. There were six brothers total and one sister, and they were a very tight family that often attended the same functions.

There were nods all around, Carmen already knew everyone else so she took a minute to introduce the others to Will as he held out her chair for her and waited until she was seated before he took his own. He didn't appear to be impressed or uncomfortable by the famous faces around the table.

"How was your time at the ranch?" Grace asked after they were settled.

"It was a nice break, I appreciate the use of the house." Carmen gave a polite smile.

Bryce's eyes were on her and Will, assessing the situation. "Will, I heard that you were able to help with Willow."

"She's made some progress but there is still some work left to do. There's a sweetness in her, but she just needs to be reminded that it's there." Will smiled charmingly at Bryce.

"That will make Norah very happy," Grace commented. "She was devastated when she realized that Willow wouldn't allow anyone to touch her."

"That's been addressed, but she's still not up to being ridden yet. I hope to return and finish the job soon." Will directed his smile as Grace, and Carmen watched as she smiled and blushed in return.

Carmen was listening, fascinated by the conversation, she knew Will had claimed to work with horses, but by the sound of it he really did help them. She watched Will frown before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After a moment, he looked up at everyone at the table and asked to be excused, and Carmen watched him as he walked away at a brisk pace.

"Where did you pick him up at?" Kelly leaned over and whispered in her ear. Kelly was known to be a little man crazy, she went through them like a box of chocolates, some she savored and others she threw away almost instantly.

"We met at the Stevens' ranch." Carmen avoided eye contact with Kelly's date who was staring at her, and nodded to the waiter who had just delivered to her and Will two glasses of champagne.

"He's yummy, can I have him when you're finished?"

Carmen felt her hand tighten on the stem of her glass as she fought the massive wave of jealously that filled her at the thought of Will with Kelly.

"Hello." Laura's chilly greeting sounded behind them and it thankfully distracted Carmen from Kelly's comments.

"Laura," Carmen greeted just as frostily. "Davis." She nodded to the two of them, but Davis wasn't having it as he leaned in and gave first Kelly and then her a kiss on the cheek.

"Where's your new boy toy?" he teased softly before he helped a very regal looking Laura into her seat.

"He's around here somewhere," Carmen said, taking a sip of her champagne. Kelly, Laura, and Carmen had a volatile working relationship. In the world of modeling one had to watch their own back, and even though her and Laura's greeting had been frosty they had developed a decent respect for each other. Their two days at the ranch had consisted of them sitting in the same room doing their own thing, it was only when Davis had joined them that they had been friendly with each other. Carmen had a hard time letting people in and so did Laura, and it suited them both fine.

But just as Laura had helped her contact Josh, she would help Laura if she ever asked.

Carmen had been present when Laura had fallen in love with Davis, and part of her had been happy for Laura, who was as tortured by her past as Carmen was, but a larger part of her was jealous. Carmen had had to grow up fast and had seen only the worst sides of men. She knew there were good ones out there, and she guessed Davis was one of them, but she doubted that she would ever find one.

An image of Will popped into her mind and she licked her lips, remembering the feel of his lips on hers. There was an attraction there that was for sure, but she had her doubts about who he was, especially when he said he was broken. She had known her fair share of broken men and there was nothing anyone could do to put them back together.

*******

Will let his eyes scan the ballroom of the hotel, looking for anyone who could be a threat as he looked for a quiet corner to call Josh. Josh had sent him an ASAP text and he knew he couldn't ignore it. He wanted to because he knew what it was going to be about, but he had to own up to what had just happened.

The band on stage was playing a jazzy number and there were couples dancing on the dance floor. Will did a quick circuit noting the exits and limited security. There were a lot of famous people in attendance so there would have to be a few well concealed security guards.

He found a hall leading to the restroom, it afforded him a quieter position but also let him keep his eyes on Carmen. Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his phone and hit the button to call Josh.

"What the hell was that!" Josh demanded as soon as he answered.

"Hey, she kissed me," Will insisted, forcing a grin into his voice. It had been an amazing kiss and it was a novel experience for him to be the one being kissed. Generally, he was the one doing all of the kissing.

"I don't care, you're there in a professional capacity-"

"As her boyfriend, did you really think kissing her wouldn't come into play in this situation? I'll admit it's a hard job-"

"There's kissing and then there's kissing, and that was kissing!"

"OMG Josh!" Will let his voice go sing-song like a teenage girl. A passing woman looked at him oddly and when he threw her a wink it made her blush. "You're letting Devon watch the security footage aren't you, those are her words. You're so whipped."

"You will be too if you're not careful. I saw the way you looked at her."

"All an act my friend."

There was a heavy silence that let him know that Josh didn't believe a word he said, and Will let an oath slip out, realizing that it was true and Josh knew it was.

"Do you want to leave? I can assign someone else."

"No, I promised I would stay until she was safe."

There was a silence again and he could hear Josh thinking, but his words, when they finally came, where not what he expected.

"You have to be back in two weeks for your psych eval, we'll do our best to have this wrapped up by then."

Will was silent, he knew that Josh would do everything he could to help him honor his promise.

"How does it look there?"

"One of her fellow models has an escort that makes me uneasy, but haven't noticed anything out of place. I'll keep my eyes open." He looked over at Carmen in time to see Davis Stevens place a kiss on her cheek and he didn't like it. He knew they were friends, but he didn't like anyone touching her.

"Keep me posted," Josh said before he hung up the phone.

He had to do better at masking his feelings about Carmen, it was bad enough that Josh had seen through him, the last thing he wanted was for Carmen to see his true feelings. The fact of the matter was that he was falling fast and hard, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.

******

Mason was in the middle of telling a joke to everyone about one of his co-stars when Kelly's date for the evening stood up and approached Carmen, Carmen noted that Kelly's eyes narrowed in displeasure at his action. He was dressed in a tux like everyone else, but there was an air about him that made him feel out of place no matter what his dress was, and he immediately made Carmen's skin crawl as he hovered over her. She had the feeling that there was something familiar about him once again, but she couldn't place what it was.

The table laughed as Mason finished his story and the man turned to Carmen.

"Ms. Morales, may I have this dance?" He had a foreign accent, and he was wearing one to many rings on his hands.

Carmen looked at him with her best haughty look, about to say no, when Will appeared beside her. "Sorry, but she promised this one to me." Will smiled and Carmen noted that it didn't reach his eyes as he held out his hand to her. She placed her hand in his without a second thought as he pulled her up towards him.

"What was so important that you had to leave me?" she hissed once they were on the dance floor.

"Josh wanted to yell at me for kissing you." He spun her around so that he could keep his eyes on the man who had asked her to dance. When they had left he had turned to Kelly and asked her and she had accepted.

"But I kissed you!"

Will was amused that she sounded upset by the fact that she wasn't getting credit for taking charge of the situation.

"I explained that to him." Will kept turning Carmen so that her back was to the man. "Who is he?"

"I have no clue, there's something familiar about him, but I'm not sure what it is. He gives me the creeps," she said with a shiver. "I was about to turn him down when you arrived."

"You sound upset that you didn't get the chance."

"I have no problem putting a man in his place." Carmen shrugged.

"So I've noticed."

Will's arms felt so good around her as he held her close, she moved a little closer to him resting her hand on his chest. "Will-"

"Don't Carmen, this is not the time or the place to have a serious conversation."

His voice sounded so cold and so distant that Carmen tried her best not to be hurt by it. When the song ended he took her back to the table where they joined everyone else.

True to his word, he kept his hands to himself the rest of the night and he barely spared her a smile, even though he shared plenty of them with Kelly.