Page 33 of Cipriani's Innocent Captive
Abruptly bringing his conversation with two top financiers to an end, Lucas weaved his way towards her, approaching her from behind.
‘You’re thinking,’ he murmured, leaning down so that he could whisper into her ear.
Katy started and spun round, and her heart began to beat faster.Thud, thud, thud.
She had shyly told the three colleagues who’d been invited to the ball about Lucas, glossing over how they had met and focusing instead on how they had been irresistibly drawn towards one another.
‘You know how it is,’ she had laughed coquettishly, knowing that she was telling nothing but the absolute truth, ‘Sometimes you get hit by something and, before you know it, you’re going along for the ride and nothing else matters.’
Lucas’s stunning eyes on her now really did make her feel as though she had been hit head-on by a speeding train and she had to look down just in case he caught the ghost of an expression that might alert him to the way she really felt about him.
‘Tired?’ Lucas asked, drawing her towards the dance floor.
A jazz band had been playing for the past forty-five minutes, the music forming a perfect backdrop to the sound of voices and laughter. The musicians were on a podium, in classic coat and tails, and they very much looked as though they had stepped straight out of a twenties movie set.
‘A little,’ Katy admitted. His fingers were linked through hers and his thumb was absently stroking the side of hers. It made her whole body feel hot and she was conscious of her bare nipples rubbing against the silky fabric of her dress. The tips were stiff and sensitive and, the more his thumb idly stroked hers, the more her body went into melt down.
This was what he did to her and she knew that if she had any sense at all she would enjoy it while she had it. Instead of tormenting herself with thoughts of what life would be like when he disappeared from it, she should be relishing the prospect of climbing into bed with him later and making love until she was too exhausted to move a muscle.
‘It’s really tiring talking to loads of people you don’t know,’ she added breathlessly as he drew her to the side of the dance floor and turned her to face him.
The lighting had been dimmed and his gorgeous face was all shadows and angles.
‘But you’ve been doing a pretty good job of it,’ Lucas assured her with a wry smile. ‘And here I was imagining that you would be a little out of your depth.’
Katy laughed, eyes dancing as she looked up at him. ‘That must have been a blessed relief for you.’
‘What makes you say that?’ After spending the past hour or so doing the rounds, Lucas felt relaxed for the first time that evening. No one had dared ask him any direct questions about the engagement that had sprung from nowhere, and he had not enlightened anyone, aside from offering a measured explanation to Ken Huang and his wife, both of whom, he had been amused to note, were full of praise for the romance of the situation. He had thought them far too contained for flowery congratulations but he’d been wrong on that point.
Under normal circumstances, he would have used the time to talk business. There were a number of influential financiers there, as well as several political figures with whom interesting conversations could have been initiated. However, his attention had been far too taken up with Katy and following her progress through the room.
People were keen to talk to her; he had no idea what she’d told them, but whatever it was, she had obviously struck the right note.
With women and men alike. Indeed, he hadn’t failed to notice that some of the men had seemed a lot busier sizing her up than listening to whatever she had had to say. From a distance, Lucas had had to swallow down the urge to muscle in on the scene and claim his property—because she wasn’t his and that was exactly how it ought to be. Possessiveness was a trait he had no time for and he refused to allow it to enter into the arrangement they had between them.
But several times he had felt his jaw tighten at the way her personal space had been invaded by men who probably had wives or girlfriends somewhere in the room, creeps with fancy jobs and flash cars who figured that they could do what they wanted with whomever they chose. Arrangement or no arrangement, Lucas had been quite prepared to land a punch if need be, but he knew that not a single man in the room would dare cross him by overstepping the mark.
Still.
Had she even noticed the over-familiarity of some of those guys? Should he have warned her that she might encounter the sort of men who made her odious ex pale in comparison?
‘I can’t imagine you would have wanted to spend the evening holding my hand,’ she teased with a catch in her voice. ‘That kiss of yours did the trick, and I have to say no one expressed any doubt about the fact that the most unlikely two people in the world decided to get engaged.’
‘Even the men who had their eyes on stalks when they were talking to you?’
Katy looked at him, startled. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’
‘Forget it,’ Lucas muttered gruffly, flushing.
‘Are youjealous?’
‘I’m not the jealous type.’ He downed his whisky in one long swallow and dumped the empty glass, along with her champagne flute, on a tray carried by one of the glamorous waitresses who seemed to know just where to be at the right time to relieve important guests of their empty glasses.
‘No.’ Katy was forced to agree because he really wasn’t, and anyway, jealousy was the domain of the person who actuallyfeltsomething. She smiled but it was strained. ‘No need to point out the obvious!’
Lucas frowned even though she was actually saying all the right things. ‘That kiss, by the way,’ he murmured, shifting his hand to cup the nape of her neck, keen to get off a subject that was going nowhere, ‘Wasn’t just about making the right impression.’
‘It wasn’t?’
