‘I’ll undress him in a minute.’ She covered Sam with a fleecy throw to keep him warm and turned to find Joel leaning against the doorframe, his blue eyes watching her every move. ‘He had such a great time. Thank you.’
In the confines of Sam’s bedroom, his shoulders seemed broader than ever and his powerful frame seemed to fill the doorway.
‘You’re welcome.’
The darkness created an intimacy that made her heart rate increase.
Just friends, she reminded herself.
‘Come and have a coffee.’
She pushed past him, ignoring the feel of his hard thighs as she brushed against him.
Walking through to the kitchen, she flicked on the kettle and smiled at him. ‘I wanted to thank you for rescuing me earlier. Your family were determined that I was going to go to the ball.’
‘And you didn’t want to.’
‘No.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘Not my sort of thing.’
There was a slight pause. ‘Not even with a friend?’
Her eyes flew to his and her heart beat faster. ‘Are you asking me to go to the ball with you?’
‘I haven’t anyone to go with.’
His pathetic expression didn’t fool her and she laughed and gave him a wry lo
ok. ‘You really expect me to believe that, Dr Whittaker?’
‘Are you saying you don’t?’ He folded his arms and gave her a sexy smile. ‘All right, then, let’s just say that one has to be very careful who one takes to the Valentine’s Ball. They might get the wrong idea.’
In other words, he didn’t want some poor woman thinking he was serious about her.
She shook her head reprovingly. ‘So I’m supposed to be going to protect you?’
‘Definitely.’ He nodded vigorously. ‘Think of yourself as a bodyguard. You’re going to be guarding my body.’
She smiled hesitantly, horrified to find herself wondering what his body was like under his stylish clothes. Firm, well muscled, totally male…
She swallowed and poured hot water onto the coffee. ‘I don’t think a ball is really my scene…’
‘You need to go out, Lucy,’ he said quietly. ‘When did you last have some fun?’
She stood still. She couldn’t remember.
‘They have a fantastic live band. We can dance till our feet are blistered.’
She laughed. ‘And that’s supposed to be a good thing?’
‘Don’t you like dancing?’
‘Joel, I’m a mother with a child of six.’
‘So?’ He shrugged, clearly at a loss to see the relevance of her statement. ‘Since when did having a child stop you dancing? Say yes, Lucy. I guarantee you’ll have a good time.’
Dancing…
Suddenly her heart felt lighter than it had for a long time.