With his bow tie long gone, he looked deliciously disheveled. The top button of his tuxedo shirt was undone, and his five o’clock shadow had been darkening steadily as the evening wore on. She noticed that other women’s eyes followed him when he walked past. It provided some small comfort that she wasn’t the only person captivated by his dark good looks and athletic physique.

But she knew better than to get involved. Again.

“The catering staff not only serves the food, they provide cleanup afterward,” she noted, nodding to his handful of crystal stemware. “That’s what you pay them for.”

“Thank you, Elena, for the entertaining tips. But when one is trapped in a room where the conversation has turned to which lipstick is the longest-wearing, the urge to escape by any means becomes overwhelming.” Setting the glasses in the sink, he joined her at the kitchen island. “May I join you?”

He was already helping himself to half a baguette, not bothering with a plate. She hid a smile. His father might have poured a lot of time and money into cultivating an heir with posh manners and social savvy, but Gage had resisted at least some of the efforts to tame him.

“Only if we can talk about something besides makeup.” She found a napkin and retrieved her glass of water to bring with her. “I’ve had all the party small talk I can bear, too.”

It frustrated her that she’d learned so little about the Mesa Falls Ranch owners or Alonzo Salazar this evening. But maybe she could still learn something from her host.

The crowd had thinned out considerably. The only guests still dancing in the great room were younger members of the celebrity entourages. It looked like one of the pop singers was deep in conversation with a European model Elena had spoken to only briefly. The party guests weren’t the kinds of people Gage had normally chosen to surround himself with, but then, the evening had been carefully planned by the ranch’s public relations staff to showcase Mesa Falls for young influencers who might bring more attention to the ranch’s environmental initiatives.

She admired the intent, even if the crowd was far different from what she was used to. They all seemed so damned young.

“Let’s sit at the breakfast bar.” He nodded toward the coffee station near the back windows overlooking the darkened pool area outside. “That way I can keep an eye on things until these people run out of gas.”

Elena slid into the cushioned wraparound bench that surrounded the table on three sides. Even though it was close to the kitchen, the spot was quiet since the catering staff was based in a mobile food preparation truck outside.