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She was a deeper pink now, but the uncertainty had given way to a smile. ‘You like it?’
Like it? Was she entirely mad? Her dress was jewel-green, simply cut, with sheer fabric at the neckline and covering her arms. Shimmering, iridescent sequins spilled from the right side of the neckline, spreading out across her shoulder and down her sleeve, with another trail meandering down across her breast and disappearing in the soft folds of her skirts. Her hair was swept up, and he could see silver pins anchoring the soft curls. Not quite Tara’s silver dagger pins, but reminiscent of them. She stepped back from the doorway and as she moved the sequins glimmered blue and green and the silver tracery on the cuff bracelets she wore sparkled.
Many women had dressed up for him before, but no one had ever done anything like this. This was a shared secret, a nod to their past, which only he got. Everyone else would simply think she was the most beautiful woman in the room.
‘It’s stunning.’ She was stunning. Leo stepped into the hallway, leaning towards her. ‘If you tell me you have an immobility gun strapped to your leg, I think I’m going to faint.’
She laughed. ‘No, it would spoil the line of the skirt. I am armed, though.’
‘And ready to go?’ He’d been wondering whether he’d get to see her flat, but now Leo didn’t care. All he wanted to look at was her.
‘Yes.’ She picked up her coat, along with a small silver clutch bag, and indicated a large zipped bag. As he bent to pick it up, Leo caught a subtle breath of her scent.
He held out his arm and she took it. ‘Armed how?’
‘That would be telling...’ Her eyes flashed with mischievous humour, and another layer added itself to the fantasy. ‘The first strategy is always surprise.’
Leo wondered whether he should have thought to bring a weapon as well. Every guy in the room was going to be fighting for her attention tonight. But he had the advantage. He’d bet everything he had that Alex was the kind of woman who always went home with the guy she came with.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HE LIKED THE DRESS. What had started out as a bit of fun had turned into uncertainty over whether the idea was really going to work. Rhona and her mum had egged her on, and the three of them had spent an evening laughing over the application of sequins to the dress that Alex had bought. Then the terror had set in. But when she’d seen approval in Leo’s eyes she’d been able to breathe again.
It was an hour’s drive to the hotel where the dinner dance was being held, and Leo seemed to know that she was still nervous. He always knew how to calm her though, and when she walked into the enormous banqueting hall, hanging on tightly to his arm, it seemed less daunting than she’d thought it would be.
He found their table and Alex was relieved to see Justin there, along with a few other faces she knew. Leo was on good form, quietly attentive but at the same time laughing and joking with everyone, and she began to enjoy herself.
A meal was served and then came the speeches, which were mercifully short. Then the diners began to meander away from their tables, circulating and greeting friends. Leo seemed to know almost everyone here and he was clearly on a mission, steering Alex from one group to another, introducing her and working her charity seamlessly into each conversation.
‘What a nice man...’ Alex had spoken for a while to a white-haired man who had asked a number of perceptive questions about her work and listened carefully to her answers.
‘He’s on the board of one of the biggest publishing organisations in the country.’ Leo leaned in towards her, whispering the name into her ear.
‘Really?’ Alex’s hand flew to her mouth and she felt her ears begin to redden.
Leo grinned. ‘Just as well I didn’t tell you before. You would have clammed up, and smiled and nodded instead of being your usual interesting self.’
‘Well...yes. I’ll give you that. I would have clammed up.’
‘And he didn’t get where he is by standing grinning at people.’
Alex wrinkled her nose. ‘Do you think I was too...?’
‘You were perfect. Would you like to dance?’
Yes. She’d really like to dance with Leo. Have his arm around her waist, feel his body moving against hers. Maybe that was asking just a little bit too much of an already great evening, though.
‘I’d like to find the ladies’ room first...’
He gestured over his shoulder. ‘That way.’
She moved through the press of people, finding herself in a large, comfortable lobby. Two women were already there, standing by the mirrors, gossiping. Alex paid no attention to them until she was about to leave, and walked over to the mirror to check her lipstick.
‘I glimpsed Leo on the way in. Looking as mouth-watering as ever.’ The woman in the blue dress was talking rather too loudly to ignore.
‘Is he? I’ll have to go and strike up a conversation!’ the black dress replied.
‘Fancy a threesome?’ Blue dress laughed unattractively.
