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She had to laugh. ‘You only have to enter a room and you’re the centre of attention. I didn’t know anyone here. More importantly, they didn’t want to know me.’
Xavier’s frown deepened. ‘You should have said if you were having difficulties.’
‘I wasn’t having difficulties. I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, that’s all. And these are your guests, not mine. I don’t expect you to devote every waking minute to me.’
‘Just a few of those minutes?’ he suggested, slanting a smile.
She didn’t like to think what that smile could do to her. And it was too late to blank it out. It had already warmed her, and reminded her of her favourite fantasy, that involved happy-ever-after with the man of her dreams. ‘A few minutes would probably be enough,’ she said.
Xavier sighed, and turned away as his smile broadened. ‘I suppose I owe you an apology. I should have been a better host.’
‘But it suits your purpose better if I leave empty-handed,’ she said shrewdly.
He swung around. ‘You’re determined to think the worst of me.’
‘Then give me a reason not to.’
The crease was back in his cheek. ‘Maybe I will,’ he said with a flash of his sexy dark eyes.
A few long moments, and then he laughed as he spotted the shoes hanging from her wrist. ‘They didn’t suit you?’
‘They hurt,’ she confessed.
‘And you hate the dress—not a great result, clothes-wise.’
She plucked at the dress and frowned. ‘I know it sounds ungrateful, but I have to agree, this is not my favourite outfit.’
Pulling his head back to stare at her, Xavier narrowed his eyes in speculation. ‘How much do you hate the dress?’
‘Well...’ she tried to be objective ‘...it’s obviously been designed for someone with far more sophistication than me.’
‘That’s very tactful. I think it was designed for someone who likes to be noticed.’
Well, he was right in thinking she had no desire to stand out.
‘I don’t like it much, either,’ he said.
She shrugged. There wasn’t much she could do about that.
But Xavier had an answer to just about everything. Taking hold of the dress at
the neckline, he ripped it apart.
‘How do you feel about it now?’ he said.
CHAPTER NINE
THE BRUSH OF his hands against her breasts was a scintillating distraction, but it didn’t take Rosie long to find her voice. ‘There’s a party going on outside this room,’ she protested as she tried frantically to gather the ripped fabric together. She glared at Xavier. ‘You’re mad! There are people laughing and chatting on the other side of that door. Your guests!’ she reminded him. ‘Guests who could walk in here at any time and see us together! Like this!’ she added, her voice rising at least another octave. ‘You haven’t even locked the door!’
Xavier’s powerful shoulders eased in a relaxed shrug. ‘That’s half the fun.’ His voice was low and confident.
‘For you,’ she argued. ‘Who dares to criticise Don Xavier Del Rio? You can do what you want, when you want.’ And with whom you want, Rosie silently added. Even she had fallen victim to his spell. She’d get nowhere until she woke up and seized back some control. ‘The dress is ruined, and I don’t have a spare tucked away in my evening bag, in case you were wondering.’
‘I wasn’t.’
He couldn’t care less. She needed to work out how to walk back into the party with a dress hanging off her shoulders. It was time to man up and take control.
Well, that should be easy, she thought, fuming when she saw his mocking face.
