Tess glanced at their joined hands. Her gloves were red, to match her dress. His fingers were long and elegant, his skin lightly tanned, as if he’d spent time outside.
They swung into the first dip of a waltz, bodies moving in perfect rhythm, and she tried to slow her pounding heart. The strong muscles of his shoulder rippled beneath her palm.
She glanced up in what she hoped was a coquettish manner. “So really, why no mask? Aren’t you afraid of being recognized?”
“Not particularly. I have nothing to hide, and no patience for subterfuge. I prefer to be straightforward in my dealings, both business and personal. People can either take me as I am, or leave me.”
It was Tess’s turn to raise her brows. How nice it must be not to care about anyone else’s opinion. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that luxury. At least, not in theton. “You think I’m hiding something?”
The look he flashed down at her was cynical, ironic.
“Apart from my face and my name,” she added wryly.
He leaned in, so his lips brushed her temple, and thewoodsy scent of his cologne teased her nose. Dear Lord, he smelled amazing.
“I think you’re hiding a hundred things, Scarlet,” he murmured. “Not least a very lovely body beneath that scandalous dress.”
Tess sucked in a breath, both shocked and delighted by his direct approach.
He fancied her! Without even seeing her face or knowing who she was!
“I could be as ugly as a horse beneath this mask,” she managed.
He pulled back, just a fraction, and his cool gaze dropped to her lips. “Perhaps. But you have the most kissable mouth I’ve ever seen.”
Tess missed a step.
He righted her with ease. “Are you married?”
She shook her head.
“Engaged?”
“No.”
“Another man’s mistress?”
“No. Are you?”
His lips curved. “Neither married, nor engaged. Nor any man’s mistress, for that matter.” His eyes bored into hers. “Did you only come here to dance tonight, Scarlet? Or are you after something more?”
Tess bit her lip. Now was her chance. “What if I said I’d come here for an adventure? Could you offer me that?”
He tilted his head, considering. “For an hour or so, yes. I think we could enjoy one another.”
His candidness was refreshing. He wasn’t trying to woo her with pretty words or sweetly whispered lies. Tess could feel herself crumbling.
Scandalous it might be, but there was something incredibly liberating about not being judged by her face.“Beauty” was just an accidental combination of pleasing features that owed everything to luck and current fashion. Her looks would fade, and so few people ever bothered to look beyond them, for her intelligence, her kindness, her wit.
This man thought she was a woman with no morals. Apart from her lips, visible beneath her mask, he didn’t know or care what she looked like. He just wanted her body to pleasure his own.
And for the first time in her life, Tess wanted exactly the same thing.
The waltz ended and they swirled to a stop, her skirts clinging to his legs as if reluctant to let him go. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.
She wanted this man to kiss her, more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. If he wanted to do more than kiss… well, she had one of Daisy’s knives in her pocket. She would use it if she had to.
She pressed her palm to the front of his shirt and threw caution to the wind.
