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‘I’ll ask her at work on Monday,’ George said firmly, as Annie just rolled her eyes.
‘No, you won’t. Why don’t you go over there and ask her now?’
‘Now?’ George blinked as the music ended.
‘Now!’
‘Oh, hello, sir, I mean Iosef...’ George gratefully jumped at the diversion of Iosef walking past. ‘Great wedding, isn’t it?’
‘It’s been OK. I’m just going to head off home now... ’ And from somewhere George must have found his courage because without a single word he bolted off towards Melanie, leaving Annie standing with Iosef on the dance floor, feeling horribly awkward as the music started up again.
‘Dance?’
‘I’ve had enough of duty for one day!’
‘Stop sulking.’ Iosef grinned.
‘I’m not.’
‘Stop sulking and dance.’
It unsettled her how relieved she felt.
How blissful it felt to be in his arms, and the effects of a week of little food was nothing to the dizzying heights he took her to.
‘I’ve actually been wanting to dance with you all night.’ His low whisper made her ears tickle and she squirmed in pleasure but tried to stay cool.
‘Then why didn’t you?’
‘Same as you—duty first.’
And because he’d danced with everyone, because he’d worked the room, no one gave them a second glance, and for that Annie was grateful, grateful too to just close her eyes and sway to the music with him. She could feel the heat of his palm in the small of her back, feel his warm breath on her bare shoulder, his heavy scent filling her nostrils. Combined with the intoxicating memory of his lips on hers, the combination was lethal.
‘You look amazing!’
‘Thanks.’ He wasn’t the first to have told her that, Annie reminded herself—after all it was obligatory for people to say that to the bridesmaids. ‘I don’t always look this good.’
‘Modest, too!’ He laughed.
‘I didn’t mean that... ’ She shook her head against his shoulder. How could she explain that this rather passable parcel was down to weeks of preparation, that the very groomed woman he held in his arms was an absolute one-off?
He lowered his head slightly, so close his chin was dusting her cheek as he whispered in the shell of her ear.
‘You smell amazing.’
Now,thatwasn’t expected—she could feel her throat clench, a knot of anticipation tightening in her stomach as his breath tickled her ear.
‘You feel amazing.’
There was just a small increase of pressure on her back. Her stomach curled inside. She almost wept in frustration as the slow music stopped and couples stood back a fraction and clapped or frantically ran for freedom. Annie knew she ought to go. This man was so potently sexual it would be so, so easy to say or do something she might regret, so pathetically easy to misread the signs and make an utter fool of herself.
And anyway he had a girlfriend.
Thanking him, she turned to go, desperate almost for the normality of Melanie or the safety of the loos, where she could splash her burning face in cool water, but Iosef caught her hand.
‘Where are you going?’
‘I ought to—’
