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‘Yep. If I carry you out of here and into the car—’
‘What would you want to do that for?’
‘Because if you put your shoe back on you’ll stain your heel. And you can’t go barefoot over the gravel in the car park.’ She pressed her lips together, nodding. ‘So I can carry you out and everyone will think you’re a poor thing who can’t walk. I don’t think we’ll go for that option.’
‘No.’ She grinned. ‘I don’t think we will.’
‘Or...they can think that I’m sweeping you off for a night of passion and I can’t keep my hands off you.’ At that moment, that sounded pretty much perfect to Leo.
‘No. Probably not...’
She was right, of course. ‘Or...you hold your stained shoes in your hand, and everyone thinks I’m just carrying you because you can’t wear them.’
She nodded. ‘Wisest choice, I think.’
‘We’ll go for that one then. Where’s your evening bag?’
‘I left it with that terribly important, terribly nice man. His wife’s looking after it for me.’
‘Right. I’ll go and fetch that, and our coats, and make sure they’re sending someone up to clean up this mess.’ He let his hand stray to her right leg, brushing her knee with his fingers. ‘Will you wait for me here? I won’t be long.’
She grinned. ‘That’s fine. I’ll yell if I need you.’
Leo made a show of rolling his eyes. She was more than enchanting. And they’d broken through a barrier. Alex’s independent streak usually made her cautious about taking help, but she’d let her guard down with him tonight.
He turned away from her, pulling the sleeves of his shirt down and refastening his cufflinks before he put his jacket back on.
‘Wait...’ She beckoned him back over and she reached up, untying his bow tie and leaving it to drape around his neck, then unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.
‘And what’s that for?’
‘If we’re worried about how things look, then I think you should seem a little less neat. You can’t battle for someone’s life with your tie done up.’
‘It’s practical. Keeps it out of the way.’ He grinned at her.
‘Yes, I know, but we’re thinking image here.’ She reached forward, flipping open the second button on his shirt, and Leo felt a tingle run down his spine. ‘That’s much better. Makes you look very dashing.’
* * *
Leo was back in less than five minutes, accompanied by the hotel’s cleaning crew. He did look enormously dashing.
He didn’t just look the part. He’d saved her from the monstrous blue and black dresses in the ladies’ room, and made her feel as if she was beautiful. If he hadn’t saved Alan’s life, he’d come pretty close to it and sent him off to hospital strong enough to undergo the complex surgery needed to reattach his finger.
He leaned across, gathering her up in his arms. ‘You’re heavier than you look.’
‘Muscle weighs more than fat. You must be weaker than you look.’ He was having no trouble carrying her at all. She picked up her sandals from the counter top and curled the other arm around his neck.
‘Door...’
She reached down for the door handle, pulling it open, and he manoeuvred through and along the concrete floor of the corridor, setting her back on her feet when they reached the carpeted area in the lobby. Smiling at the group who had gathered in the lobby, ready to go, he caught sight of Justin and shook his hand. A hotel employee was waiting with their coats and her bag and walked towards the entrance doors.
‘Leo...’ The woman in the blue dress had appeared suddenly from nowhere and was making determinedly for him.
‘Clara. Nice to see you. Be a darling and get the door for me, would you.’
Leo swung back to face Alex, grim satisfaction burning in his eyes as he picked her up again. This wasn’t one of Leo’s charming jokes; he’d meant to put Clara firmly in her place.
Her dress brushed against Clara’s arm as he whisked her through the door and out into the night. The cold air made her shiver, and she instinctively clung a little tighter to him.
