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‘Great idea.’ Anything was better than standing with Alessandro. He obviously didn’t want her to go out. Didn’t want her to have a good time and enjoy herself.
She walked towards the dance floor with Nicky and let herself go.
For a short time she blocked out everything except the rhythm of the music and the feel of her own body.
Eventually heat and thirst got the better of her and she helped herself to a drink and walked outside into the grounds for some fresh air.
The snow was thick on the ground and she suddenly wished she’d asked for her coat.
Turning to go back inside, she bumped straight into Jake. ‘Well, well, Cinderella, I assume,’ he drawled in a soft voice, and she smiled.
‘Hi, there. Where’s your date?’
‘Not sure.’ Jake glanced back at the house and frowned. ‘In there somewhere. Last seen throwing herself around the dance floor in a most embarrassing fashion. Time to move on to the next candidate, I think.’
Christy rolled her eyes. ‘You’re irrepressible.’
‘No, I’m just fussy,’ Jake said calmly, his eyes on her pale face. Without commenting, he shrugged out of his jacket and slipped it around her shoulders. ‘OK, what’s happening with you?’
The jacket was warm and comforting but she frowned. ‘You’ll freeze.’
‘Me? You’re forgetting that I’m big, tough and manly.’ Jake lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. ‘Come one. What’s happened?’
She shouldn’t say anything, she thought miserably. She ought to keep her problems to herself. ‘Nothing.’
‘Christy, we need to get to the point fast, before we both catch pneumonia,’ Jake said patiently, ‘so let’s put this another way. Why are you out here on your own, leaving your husband inside and fair game for that Russian doctor with the long claws and the evil eyes.’
‘Katya?’ Christy swallowed hard. So Jake had noticed, too. ‘I can’t compete with her.’
‘That’s rubbish,’ Jake drawled, finishing his drink and putting his glass down on the wall that led towards the maze. ‘I thought you were going to fight.’
‘I was.’ Christy looked down at herself. ‘This was my weapon, but it didn’t work. He was supposed to be bowled over by how stunning I am. Instead, he just went off the deep end and said that I couldn’t go out looking like this.’
Jake’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is that right?’
‘I’m the mother of his children,’ Christy said wearily, and Jake grinned.
‘In that silver dress? Believe me, you look more like a walking fantasy than the mother of anyone’s children. I’m not surprised he didn’t want you to go out looking like that. He has a possessive nature, angel. And that’s your fault for marrying a brooding Spaniard. You should have picked someone safe and English, like me.’
‘You’re wrong. If it was about feeling possessive, he would have grabbed me and we never would have made it to the party,’ Christy said miserably. ‘But he doesn’t want me.’
‘No?’ Jake lifted his eyes from hers and looked over her shoulder, his attention caught by something directly
behind her. She saw his expression change but before she could turn and see what he was looking at, he muttered something that sounded like, ‘Oh, what the hell’, dragged her against him and brought his mouth down hard on hers.
The kiss lasted less than a few seconds because suddenly Jake was yanked away from her so violently that she almost lost her balance.
‘Get your hands off my wife,’ Alessandro growled fiercely, his powerful body pulsing with vibrant energy and barely contained tension.
Christy swallowed. ‘Alessandro—’
He didn’t glance in her direction. ‘Do not speak to me at the moment,’ he said thickly, his voice raw with aggression. ‘This is not your fault. You’re inexperienced when it comes to men, but Jake is—’
‘Yes?’ Jake looked at him calmly, his hands in his pockets. ‘What am I?’
‘You’ve always wanted her,’ Alessandro breathed with icy fury, and Jake gave a curious smile.
‘Yes. I did.’
