"I should say that you're too late," Raven says. She doesn't look back at him, but her stomach does flip at the proprietary way he's holding her shoulder. She should have known he'd be watching her, that he had an eye on her the entire time. It figures it would take this to make him come out of the woodwork. "That I already have my partner for the evening."

She turns her head finally and arches a look at Charles. "So why don't you give me a convincing reason to say yes?" She has the power for the moment. All she has to do is say that he's bothering her and he'll have to back off. To do otherwise would risk compromising himself. They're supposed to be undercover, not making waves through the party. Even the smallest incident in a crowd this large can be spread through too many people for Charles to handle.