looking at her with the most sensual, smouldering gaze sheâd ever seen: dark eyes with a hint of green and gold and grey. Stunning.
Not to mention a slow, sweet smile that actually made her knees go weak.
âIâ¦â Her throat dried, and Eve gave her a shove.
âShe means yes,â Eve said sweetly. âHave fun.â
Before Madison could protest, she was dancing with the stranger.
Theo had been aware of her all evening: the girl in the floaty dress with the pink and gold cat mask covering her upper face and the most incredible smile. Heâd seen her talking and laughing with plenty of people, though he hadnât actually seen her on the dance floor.
And now he was dancing cheek to cheek with her. Whoever had chosen this music was an utter genius: it had neither the formality of ballroom dancing nor the slight distance of pop. This was old-fashioned dance music, the kind of stuff his grandparents lovedâand, so heâd discovered recently, his mother had loved too.
Despite his dance partnerâs high-heeled shoes, she wasnât that tall and he had to dip his head slightly to dance with her, but she felt perfect in his arms. And those blue, blue eyes behind the mask were just stunning. Like a Mediterranean sky on a late summer evening, shading to dark navy at the very edges of her irises. Her dark hair was loose around her shouldersânot perfectly straight, but not a riot of curls either. Soft, enticing waves that made him want to tangle his hands in them, feel the silkiness against his fingertips.
Even more than that, he wanted to see her hair spread over his pillow. And he really, really wanted to explore that beautiful mouth. Tease it with kisses until it opened beneath his mouth, letting him deepen the kiss.
Kyrios. He couldnât remember when heâd last felt a pull of attraction this strong.
But right now she was in his arms, holding him close. And it felt good.
The strangerâs touch was perfectly decorous, Madison thought. And yet somehow it felt personalâintimate, even. They were dancing close enough for her to feel his breathing, hear his heartbeat. And he had a perfect sense of rhythm, guiding her round the floor so effortlessly that it actually felt like floating. Sheâd never been so in tune with a dance partner before.
They didnât speak as they dancedâthey didnât need toâand suddenly everyone around them just melted away. They could have been dancing on a little terrace overlooking a garden in Tuscany, just the two of them, in the moonlightâ¦
She shook herself. Of course not. This was London. And if it wasnât for the fact that sheâd deliberately stuck to sparkling water because she was responsible for the way things ran tonight, she wouldâve been sure this heady feeling was from drinking too much champagneâalmost like tiny bubbles fizzing through her veins.
The fact it was all from dancing with him scared her and excited her at the same time. Sheâd never reacted this strongly to anyone before. Even Harry.
Part of her wanted to ask the stranger what his name was, but she knew that talking would break the spell. And right now she didnât want it to end. Just the two of them and the music, the singer crooning and the soft jazzy piano counterpointed by the double bass and guitar.
Two and a half minutes had never passed so slowly.
Or so very, very fast.
When the song ended and his hands dropped from her body and he took a step backwards, it felt so wrong.
And then he bowed to her, lifted her right hand and kissed the pulse on the inside of her wrist.
She could barely breathe.
His eyesâdark and as sexy as hellâheld hers. âThank you.â
Again, that slight accent. She couldnât quite place it, but it was incredibly attractive.
Just as her mouth started to frame a response, an introduction, a question, a different pair of arms caught her round the waist. âMaddie! Hereâs my girl.â She found herself spun into a hug. Into arms she recognisedâEd, the registrar in the emergency department sheâd dated a couple of times, a month or so back.
Oh, help.
Ed was beaming. A champagne-induced sort of beaming, and heâd clearly forgotten that theyâd agreed to be just good friendsâthat they werenât dating any more.
By the time Madison had extricated herself and jollied Ed into remembering that they were just friends and she was busy tonight anyway with her chairwoman hat on, and had informed him that heâd just been incredibly rude to the man whoâd danced with her by cutting in like that, Mr Gold Mask was nowhere to be seen.
The disappointment felt as if someone had just driven past her through a deep puddle, dousing her in cold water.
Which was utterly ridiculous. The man was a complete stranger. No way should she be reacting this strongly to himâa man whoâd danced with her once and whom she was unlikely to see again, because she certainly didnât recognise him as one of the hospital staff sheâd chivvied into getting a table together.
Madison Gregory, you need to get a grip, she told herself silently, then went to check that everything was proceeding smoothly with the tombola.
Hereâs my girl.
Well, of course a woman that attractive wouldnât be single. Even though Theo had instinctively checked her left hand before asking her to dance and there had been no sign of a ring, he shouldâve realised that she would have a boyfriend.
And a dance was just a dance. It wasnât going to lead to anything else.
He pushed away the regret. It wasnât as if he was looking for a relationship anyway. Wasnât that half the reason why heâd left Greece, because his family was constantly trying to fix him up with an eligible woman and it was driving him crazy? And he was only here tonight because he was at a loose end the weekend before he started his new job. Buying a ticket for the hospital fundraiser had seemed like a good ideaâa chance to meet some of his new colleagues socially, get to know people. Heâd enjoyed chatting to people tonight.
But all the same he needed some fresh air. A cool breeze to bring his common sense back and give him some immunity to the sweet, seductive tones of the singer. As she segued into âBewitched, Bothered and Bewilderedâ, he allowed himself the briefest of smiles. Theo Petrakis most definitely didnât let himself get bewitched, bothered and bewildered by anyone.
And that included a beautifulâand very much off-limitsâwoman by the name of Maddie. Heâd go back in, buy a few tombola tickets to help swell the fundraising coffersâ¦and then maybe heâd have an early night.
Madison kept the smile on her face for the rest of the evening. And although she allowed herself to relax in between checking that all was well and danced with a dozen different men, none of her partners on the dance floor matched up to the man in the gold mask. They didnât have his fluidity or his intuitiveness.
It was pretty stupid even to be thinking about
