Page 37 of Signed, Sealed, Married

Except those blue-grey eyes surveyed him assessingly.

Would she see his visceral reaction as a tool to use against him? He’d promised not to touch her without invitation, and staying here, alone with her, would make that impossible.

He gestured for her to precede him. ‘Shall we?’

Adam didn’t take her arm as they left the hotel, or as he ushered her into the grand building that was the venue for the gala.

Gisèle didn’t mind. She felt fabulous. The red satin turned her into a woman she’d never before dared to be. Not completely.

Even better, she’d seen the masculine appreciation in Adam’s stare. The way his jaw slackened as his gaze locked on her crimson lips. His survey of her full-length dress had made her skin tingle into sizzling life.

It was the perfect salve to her bruised ego. As were the admiring looks and compliments she received as they entered the exclusive event.

It infuriated her that, at her age, after all the work she’d put in to becoming a successful, self-confident woman, Adam’s banter with his billionaire mate had reignited that old feeling of not being good enough.

Maybe because he was also cold-bloodedly acquiring her as a business asset. He didn’t see her as a woman in her own right.

Both facts were cruelly designed to undermine someone who’d once battled confidence and body image problems.

Adam had put Gisèle on her mettle and made her want to step out of her self-imposed limits. To attempt something more than the classic elegance she’d strived for for so long.

She’d begun wearing new, bolder outfits for their dates. All, she hoped, with a feminine allure that proved her to be desirable as well as competent.

Until tonight she hadn’t been sure she’d succeeded. But Adam’s expression whenever a handsome man spoke to her proved she had. He’d move in close, eyes intimidating narrow slits and jaw set. If the man lingered, a pulse would tick at Adam’s temple and he’d take her elbow, guiding her away to meet someone else.

Once, to her amazement, she’d introduced him to a European prince he’d wanted to meet, only to have Adam cut short the conversation after the greetings and lead her away. She’d been stunned. Adam was always eager to build contacts with the old established elite.

His murmured explanation was that he had second thoughts about pursuing business opportunities with a man who ogled her so outrageously.

It was only the dress and makeup that had changed. She was the same Gisèle. But she was human enough to exalt in the ego boost, especially among this horde of beautiful people.

There was one problem. She didn’t simply get an ego boost from Adam’s response.

Itexcitedher. Meeting that glittering stare, feeling the warmth of his tall frame engulf her as they stood together, even the touch of his hand on her arm, made her minutely conscious of him physically. Even more when he looked at her with something in his eyes that made her blood heat.

You’re playing a dangerous game, Gisèle.

But for tonight at least, she had no intention of stopping. There would be time for common sense tomorrow.

‘Are you ready to go, Gisèle? It’s late.’

‘Late?’

She looked around the still-crowded room with its rich furnishings and even more richly attired guests. Previously Adam had always been happy to stay late, networking and apparently enjoying the social functions they attended.

His gaze shifted. ‘We’ve an early start tomorrow.’

Of course. Work. Her buoyant mood dipped. She was tempted to say she’d stay and make her own way back. But suddenly the chatter and gaiety seemed claustrophobic rather than invigorating.

‘Of course. We need to be fresh for that.’

Tomorrow there was yet another meeting between Adam’s team and key staff in Fontaine’s Paris office.

She was turning towards the nearby exit when his hand captured hers. Immediately she stilled. In the weeks since Nice, as the press conjectured about a liaison between them, Adam hadn’t once held her hand. He only touched her arm.

This felt momentous. She held her breath.

‘Gisèle.’

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