Their eyes met in the mirror of the door and any benefits of the calm breathing Nessa had been doing were gone in an instant. His eyes were like molten black pools, and there was a gleam so explicit that she couldn’t breathe.
Everything tightened inside her and she wished she knew how to react in this situation. She could imagine that his other lovers—the ones who had also chosen dresses from the vast array he had—would turn to him now and twine their arms around his neck and say something sultry and confident.
They would take control. They might even press the Stop button and initiate an X-rated moment. Maybe he was waiting for her to do that? Overcome with insecurity, mixed with arousal, Nessa gabbled the first thing that came into her head. ‘It was lucky that you’re so prepared for your...er...women friends. There were a lot of dresses to choose from.’
His brows snapped into a frown at the same time as the doors opened. She stepped out and he took her arm, stopping her in her tracks. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Nessa felt inevitable heat climb up from her chest to her face and cursed her colouring and lack of sophistication. ‘The clothes in the dressing room. You obviously keep it stocked so your lovers aren’t caught short.’
‘Those clothes were for you. I had a stylist deliver them before we arrived. I don’t entertain women at my apartment and I certainly don’t keep a ready supply of clothes for them.’
Nessa was momentarily speechless. There was also a very dangerous fluttering feeling near her heart. He didn’t entertain women at his apartment and yet she was here. She finally managed to get out one word. ‘Oh.’
Luc looked grim, as if he’d just realised the significance of that too. He said nothing but just propelled her towards the entrance where the car and driver were waiting.
The journey to the hotel where the function was being held was taken in silence. Nessa was afraid of what else might come out of her mouth, so she kept it shut and drank in the view of Paris as they swept through the streets.
She had to remind herself that whatever overwhelming intensity she was feeling for Luc, it wasn’t remotely the same for him. He was interested in her for a relatively brief moment, for some bizarre, unknown reason. If she hadn’t burst into his life in such dramatic fashion out of a desire to protect her brother, there was no way she would have ever been sitting in the back of his car, dressed in a gown worth more than her annual income.
The sooner she kept reminding herself of that, the better. Because once Paddy sorted out this issue of the missing money, Nessa had no doubt she would be out of Luc Barbier’s life so fast her head would be spinning.
* * *
A few hours later, Nessa was waiting for Luc in the foyer of the hotel. He was a couple of feet away, conducting a conversation with a man who had just stopped him. Nessa was glad of the brief respite. Luc had been right by her side all evening and she’d been embarrassingly aware of him, and even more acutely aware of every tiny moment he’d touched the base of her back or her arm.
Just then an accented voice said close to her ear, ‘Isn’t he the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?’
Nessa jumped and looked around to see an older but carefully preserved woman with blonde hair, her blue eyes fixated on Luc. There was something about the nakedly hungry gleam in her gaze that sent a shiver through Nessa.
‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’
The women dragged her gaze off Luc and looked Nessa up and down disparagingly. ?
??You’re this new jockey they’re all talking about, I gather.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?’
Nessa flushed. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your—’
But the women grabbed her arm in an almost painful grip. She hissed at Nessa, ‘He won’t be tamed, you know. A magnificent beast like him will never be tamed.’
Nessa pulled her arm free and looked at the woman, feeling a hot surge of anger and something far more ambiguous. A fierce protectiveness. ‘He’s not an animal. He’s a man.’
‘Celeste. What a pleasure.’
Nessa’s head whipped around to see Luc right behind her, looking sterner than she’d ever seen him, his glaze so black it was obsidian. Clearly it wasn’t a pleasure.
The woman all but thrust Nessa out of the way and stepped close to Luc. ‘Darling...it’s been so long.’ She laid a hand on his arm and a wave of revulsion went through Nessa to see the long red nails. It made her think of blood.
Luc picked off her hand and took Nessa by the arm, pulling her back beside him. ‘Good evening, Celeste.’
He turned and they walked out. Nessa resisted the urge to look back at the woman. She had to be one of Luc’s ex-lovers, but the thought of him with her made Nessa’s stomach roil.
* * *
The car pulled away from the kerb and Luc reeled. He didn’t like how it had made him feel to hear Nessa speak those words to that woman. He’s not an animal. She’d looked ferocious, disgusted on his behalf. She’d had a similar expression on her face when she’d defended her brother so vociferously when they first met.
It impacted Luc in a very visceral way to think of Nessa standing up for him. He didn’t need any of that.
He looked at her now and she was pale. His voice was harsh. ‘You didn’t need to say that. I can fight my own battles.’