It was like being Cinderella arriving late at the ball. She might not have glass slippers, but she did have a dress she’d never be able to afford, not in a million years. And diamonds. As she looked around at couples dancing, groups of people talking and the sheer glitz of the moment her thoughts went back to the fairy-tale films she’d watched endlessly as a child. She might not be about to get her happy ever after, but she was certainly at the ball.
She lifted the hem of her dress slightly again and slowly descended the steps, one hand on the wide balustrade, then all the air sucked out of the room, the voices and the music slowed and became nothing but a steady thump. Or was that her heart?
Max was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her. If this were her fairy tale then he’d be smiling up at her, love shining bright in his eyes. He would rush up the stairs, take her hand and kiss her fingers so gently yet so passionately, then lead her to the dance floor, where they’d whirl around in a mist of love.
But this wasn’t her fairy tale. This was reality.
The reality of Max so very handsome in his black tuxedo, his face dark and thunderous as he looked up at her.
* * *
Max’s breath felt as if it had stopped. No matter how deep he tried to breathe he couldn’t. Like a vision of pure loveliness, Lisa stood halfway down the stairs, the green silk of her dress cascading down her body like a waterfall. Her vibrant red hair was piled up in a mass of unruly curls and the diamond earrings sparkled as they moved gently in the light. The necklace seemed to caress her skin, making his fingers want to touch her there, his lips to kiss her.
She’d come. His mouth dried as relief washed over him, but that was short-lived as he felt her gaze fall on him, felt the heat of those alluring green eyes. Around him people chatted and danced, but he couldn’t move. Not toward her or away from her. He’d been certain of what he had to do as he’d left the bar, but hadn’t expected that moment to come so quickly. He’d anticipated a car journey across London, time to process his thoughts, rehearse his words because he knew he only had one chance and they had to be right.
As if in slow motion she continued down the stairs toward him. This was the woman he loved, the woman he wanted to be with for ever, but could he say it now when that realisation was all still so new and fragile?
She reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped. The diamonds at her neck glittered as she breathed, giving away the strength of her emotions right now, but the look on her face was unreadable. A mask of defiant beauty.
He became aware of people around him staring, looking from her to him and back again. The strength of the emotion arcing between them was so powerful it was drawing others in and they stepped back, watching, waiting.
Slowly she walked toward him, the emerald silk of the dress shimmering over her body, giving her an ethereal glow. The mutinous spark in her eyes sent a trail of fear sparking down his spine. She looked like a woman with a purpose. The love had gone from her eyes. He’d done that to her.
Then she was standing before him and her heady perfume invaded his senses, making clear and rational thought almost impossible. He knew they were being watched, knew they’d grabbed everyone’s attention, but right now he didn’t care, not if it meant he could tell Lisa what he had to tell her.
‘I’d like to dance.’ Her words were lethally sharp. The soft and gentle woman he’d unknowingly loved all this time had been replaced by an ice-cold vision of beauty.
‘It will be my pleasure,’ he said as he took one of her hands and pulled her gently into his embrace.
It should feel good to hold her against him, to feel the heat of her skin through the fine silk, but it was bittersweet. He looked down at her, but she was resolutely fixing her attention on his chest and he wished this particular scene had been played out anywhere else but the dance floor.
He wanted to ask her why she’d come after he’d been so cruel to her, wanted to know if it meant he had another chance, but the words just wouldn’t come. This was worse than a damn game of poker.
‘I came here tonight to honour the deal I made with you,’ she said, finally looking up at him, as if hearing his thoughts, but the fierceness in her eyes scared the hell out of him.
‘I’m glad you did.’ Her delicate brows lifted in surprise, but the hardness remained in her eyes, sparking more brilliantly than the diamonds at her throat.
‘Are you?’
‘We need to talk, Lisa.’ Max pulled her closer as they moved slowly in time to the music. She stiffened in his arms. This wasn’t going well. He could feel her more than physically pulling away from him.