Page 4 (1/2)

British His accent Highly educated, deeply cultured, laden with class and control And with an inflection that told her he wasn’t actually English, but so too complex to fathom He sounded exactly as he looked Exotic, superior, forlimpse at his costume-that of someone ready to tackle a sandstorm head-on-she hadn’t ventured another look at him Couldn’t work up the nerve to take that look Probably would only when he decided she’d taken enough of his party time and went back to his companion

He just had to have a co other men like him existed-were invariably spoken for And this one wouldn’t ht over, tooth and nail

She sighed “Actually, I ne shower”

Hell And he’d know she wasn’t even joking She should just shut up until he moved on She’d do well to remember she was an outcast for a reason She’d never developed the art of conversation Or the coraces Every ti, uncensored, she varied between cultivating disgruntled critics or outright ene either here The man must si her back on him, she flopped her purse over her back, raised her y shoe, then the other and dangled each over the ne before placing the shoes facedown to drain

So what if she was confir his suspicion that he’d just stumbled on the party clown? What did his opinionsee with a cello solo, both e of war And not at her With her She could tell by the answering exuberance rising inside her

She felt hi down at her, and she shivered at the a his voice “So-you welco the rest of the ball wet and sticky, in a ruined gown and barefoot?”

Her lips twisted in self-deprecation “With the way I eating, this wasin my shoes It was a relief to fast-forward to the inevitable end”

“May I inquire why such a cool-looking butterfly eating buckets in the perfectly air-conditioned ballroom?”

Butterfly? At five-foot-six and a hundred and forty pounds, she was too substantial to be called that And cool-looking? Was he baiting her? Trying to get her to admit why she’d been so hot and bothered? As if she’d tell him!

Then she opened her mouth “Are you a different species? Perfectly air-conditioned? Not according to this body’s therot knocked offthe steam of body heat and self-importance, then you trained those eyes on me and I just about spontaneously combusted…”

Shut up Just shut up

This was far worse than her usual candor crises Thistie had already been done

She gritted her teeth and waited for his response, expecting hi for real this tie of her confession and proposition her