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Clinging gracefully to Slade’s arm, Chelsea bent to fuss over her shoe, which had been splashed with the contents of her now elass

‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ she pouted

‘I think they’ll dry’

Chelsea was quite sure they would Lifting her head slowly, she raised her lowered eyelashes and let her lips curve into a seductively proers Slade Ashford’s arm felt like solid rock

His eyes which she had i a deep intense jade, and as coolly

‘Oh, I’m not worried about my shoes’ The husky softness of her voice surprised even Chelsea herself Perhaps age had turned her into a better actress than she had ever ie, or perhaps necessity

‘It’s et it—waiters never pay the slightest attention to a woman on her own, and now I’ve lost it’

‘Then please allow et you another…’

So far so good; she had ed to both capture his attention and very unsubtly let him know that she was alone As she drew a rather shaky breath of relief she heard Ann saying urgently to Kirsty, ‘Darling, can you spare us a moment?’

For a second Chelsea held her breath If Slade elected to go with Kirsty there was nothing she could do about it Her own fingertips still rested on his arm, and she could almost feel her niece’s puzzled and hurt look, but she refused to yield to it

‘Quite a sweet little thing,’ she said patronisingly as Ann led a reluctant Kirsty away ‘A relation of yours?’

Only she knew exactly how rireen eyes as Slade said curtly, ‘No; the daughter of a business acquaintance—Now, your drink…’

Now ca, Chelsea warned herself She had ed to detach him from Kirsty, but now she had to keep hi, but also firmly and publicly attached to her

She had to wait several nerve-wracking seconds before he returned to her side with a fresh Martini, and ed to draw out their mutual self-introduction for ten minutes, one half of her mind be

‘I hate co anywhere like this alone,’ she confessed when she saw his attention was beginning to waver ‘My date couldn’t make it at the lasta brainwave as the band suddenly started playing a dreamily romantic tune ‘They would play my favourite when I don’t have a partner to dance with!’

At any other tireen eyes would have shattered her, but tonight she was playing a part and there was no room for her normal icy reserve

‘Far be it from me to disappoint a lady,’ Slade Ashford drawled, and just for a otiated a path to the dance floor it struck Chelsea that his ironic co, but she swiftly disinative

In keeping with the ro the dance floor was dimly lit, and in the darkness Chelsea alers on her arm as he reached for her

In his ar it had been since a man had held her like this She had danced, of course, but never with this intihs against the softness of her own body as theyas frissons of awareness spread upwards froh her in waves and the need to tense her body against the alien intrusion of arrogant ive in to it

Slade’s hand caressed her spine, sliding upwards to stroke the vulnerable nape of her neck Her breath caught in her throat Dear God, what chance would Kirsty have against a man like this if he chose to submit her to the full force of his sexual expertise?