she murmured, her eyes slightly glazed. ‘It feels incredible. Are you as good at everything else? If so, then it’s no wonder every woman in the room is looking at me as if they hate me. They think we’re having mad, crazy sex all the time. I wish. Maybe we should. It seems a shame to disappoint everyone.’
He cupped her face in his hands and stared down at her in exasperation. ‘You’re plastered. It’s time I took you home.’
‘I’m not plastered. And I don’t want to go home. I’m having a really great time and I refuse to go home just so that you can weld yourself to your laptop again and ignore the fact it’s Christmas. Kissing you, drinking champagne, dancing and singing—they’re my favourite things. Honestly, Rio, you should sing too—it’s fun—I’m feeling so Christmassy—’ Her hips swayed and there was a huge smile on her face as she started to sing along again, joining in with the crowd, this time at double the volume—
When it came to ‘Five gold rings’ she sang even louder, struck a dramatic pose and flashed her diamond in the air, beaming at Rio.
Before he could stop her, she flung herself towards the two Russians, kissed each of them on the cheek and then sprang onto a chair and from there onto the table.
Rio closed his eyes, cursing himself for not monitoring her champagne intake more closely. He contemplated removing her bodily but decided that she would probably make such a fuss that the best thing to do was to wait until the end of the song and hope she survived that long without falling off the table and doing herself serious injury.
Everyone was clapping and Evie was by now the centre of attention as she led the singing, her actions for Seven swans a-swimming causing such hilarity that Rio shook his head in disbelief.
‘She’s certainly the life and soul of the party,’ Vladimir was suddenly beside him, speaking in slow, broken English, and beaming up at Evie, who was still mimicking a swan. ‘That joint venture you wanted to explore in Moscow—we’re willing to give it some consideration. Fly over in the New Year and meet with us. Evie can translate for you.’
Rio, who had given up on the usually taciturn Russians, was about to confirm the details when an overenthusiastic re-enactment of ‘Three French hens’ almost sent Evie spinning off the table.
‘Scusi—’ Crossing to the table, he caught Evie as she lost her balance and she tumbled into his arms, the silver dress shimmering under the lights.
‘—Two purple doves,’ she hollered, ‘and a partridge in a pear tree.’
Wild applause surrounded them and Rio winced. ‘That’s your party piece?’
‘One of them. I also tell a great joke about a wide mouth toad which has brilliant actions.’ She eyed the microphone on the stage. ‘I suppose I could—’
‘No,’ Rio said hastily. ‘You most definitely could not.’
‘I love champagne,’ she said happily, leaning her head against his shoulder. ‘It’s the nicest, yummiest, fizziest, happiest drink I’ve ever tasted. Is there any more?’
‘It’s run out. You drank it all. Thanks to you, the global champagne market is now in meltdown.’
‘Shame.’ She buried her face in his neck and breathed deeply. ‘You smell so good. Why do you smell so good? Will you kiss me again? And this time don’t stop. The only thing I hate about kissing you is when you stop. I just want it to go on and on and on—could you do that, do you think? You did say you were good at multi-tasking.’
Rio tensed. ‘Evie—’
‘You’re an incredibly sexy man. If I wasn’t so afraid of being rejected again, I’d try and seduce you—’ she was snuggling and kissing his neck at the same time ‘—but I’ve never seduced anyone before so it’s probably a bit overambitious to start with you. Like climbing a mountain and deciding to start with Everest. I ought to practice on someone small, ugly and unsuccessful first and see how I get on.’
Rio felt his entire body tighten. ‘You won’t be practising on anyone tonight. We’re going home.’
‘Not without a present from the Christmas tree,’ she coaxed, lifting her head and focusing with difficulty. ‘It’s all in a good cause. You pay money and they give you a surprise present. The money goes to the kids. So it’s sort of two presents in one. Three presents actually, because you get a warm fuzzy feeling from being generous.’
Deciding that it was going to be quicker to buy the present than argue, Rio strode towards the tree, Evie still in his arms. Around them, people were smiling indulgently.
His pulse rate doubled as he approached the tree. The smell of pine invaded his nostrils, awakening thoughts and memories long dormant.
‘Which present?’ he growled, adjusting the angle of his body so that she could see the tree and he couldn’t. ‘Tell me which one you want.’ Quickly. So that he could make his escape. The past was rolling over him like a dark cloud, its creeping menace threatening to seep under the barriers of his self-control.
‘The pink one with the silver bow.’ Her arms tightened around his neck and Rio felt the moist flicker of her tongue against his throat.
‘That one—’ His voice tight, he indicated with his head towards the pink box and one of the staff untied it from the tree and handed it to him while one of his own security team discreetly dealt with the financial aspect of the transaction.
‘Thank you.’ Her voice was husky, her mouth tantalizingly close to his and Rio tried to ignore the perfume that wafted from her skin.
‘We’re going home.’
‘So that we can experiment with fur against naked flesh?’
Jaw clenched tight, he reminded himself that she dreamed of happy endings.
If there was one thing designed to kill his libido, it was a woman who dreamed of happy endings.
‘So that you can sleep off the champagne.’
‘Wait—’ Slightly breathless, she pressed her lips against his throat. ‘I want the tree. Will you buy me the tree?’
Rio stilled. ‘You want me to buy every present on the tree?’
‘No, I want you to buy me the tree. I don’t think I can stand the thought of Christmas without a tree. It’s like having chocolate cake with no chocolate.’ Still clutching the pink box, she snuggled against him, her voice coaxing. ‘That tree would look fantastic in the Penthouse. It’s even bigger than the one I decorated.’
The one he’d had removed.
‘I don’t want a tree.’
‘Why not? I know you prefer to work over Christmas, but it isn’t going to stop you working just because there’s a tree in the room. It cheers everything up.’
‘It doesn’t cheer me up.’
She frowned. ‘So it wasn’t my decorations in particular that you didn’t like. It’s Christmas trees in general. Why? You’re never too old to enjoy Christmas. Having a tree
