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“Here,” he told Carly shortly, handing her his glass

“What…Jude,” she said through gritted teeth, watching him stride purposefully away In the direction of Miss Miranda Quinn and her dance partner Carly sighed i his h many emotions: fury, exasperation, and then affection He now seened to keeping away from trouble whenever she could

Though one thing was certain: She wasn’t sure how successful she’d be at keeping him away from Miranda Quinn

Miranda wasn’t even sure why she was here She hated these sorts of “do’s” After her family’s near-ruin, she hadn’t been much of a social butterfly But her brother had insisted she showed face at this fundraising gala, for the same reason she had wished to avoid it: to show that the Quinn fa Ever since her father had lost his beloved coo, he’d withdrawn on a much-needed vacation to South America, and now her brother and her had been left to pick up the pieces It had been an unco social – and getting her feet smashed in the process

She tried not to grimace one ain She hoped she wouldn’t be crippled before the night was through Kirk was a big beef of a h he couldn’t dance for squat However, he was a big-shot financial advisor with all the right contacts – contacts that Miranda was dearly in need of But befriending hi, she discovered, feeling crushed too strongly against his e of the sloaying ritted her teeth If only her brother Jeffrey could take her position right now Where the hell was he anyway, she fu the crowded room

“May I cut in?”

Miranda felt herself pause at the sound of that voice It was deep, clipped and very refined A Jae mixed with a little bit of black silk smoothness She looked up quickly, and jammed eyes with the hottest specimen of male flesh she had ever seen

He was snified by that sexy tilt of his lips His aquaeous face, which had finely chiseled planes and edges He was also quite tall, at least six feet, and dressed impeccably in a dark jacket that looked like it was molded to his athletically built fraister eous

“Sorry pal, not happening,” Kirk, her partner, said with a cool s over his shoulder at the blonde-haired man behind him

“Oh I insist,” the newcomer drawled “Because someone needs to spare the lady years of physiotherapy after you’ve finished crushing her feet”

Miranda bit down the giggle that al Kirk’s furious expression “Now look here…” blustered Kirk, but Miranda chose that moment to slip out of his arms

“I’d be honored to dance with you,” she aze of her “rescuer” She saw Kirk’s face go red, before he stalked off angrily Well, there goesaid from Kirk’s fire of regret Her brother, Jeffrey would have to do his own dirty work and make his own contacts

Besides, it was all worth being able to glide into the ar man in the room She looked up at hiht squeeze on the ballrooreat dancer, as he erously intimate embrace She could feel every outline of his powerfully built fra in ways she couldn’t re time Kirk had held her just as closely and she hadn’t felt this breath-stealing sensation, like she was running short on oxygen supply She felt his fingers dip into the flesh of her waist, seeh the fabric Her hand on his shoulder itched to dig deeper, savor the play of muscles that hinted from beneath his tailored jacket

“Thank you,” she finally said, hoping her voice didn’t sound as breathless as she felt Up close, he was al to have been carved by loving hands There was so familiar about him, and she wondered why that was She was certain that she wouldn’t have forgotten if they’d ever met before This wasn’t the kind of man that could ever slip from memory, she felt