turned to face him, her lavender eyes gazed directly into his and her chin lifted with a little pride. ‘May I get you a drink, to say thank you?’
For a second Theo was bereft of speech. The women he dated never offered to pay. They knew him, knew how wealthy he was and they were happy to meld into his lifestyle. But his brunette in distress had no idea who he was and apparently had no desire to just take whatever she could from him.
‘Please,’ she added. ‘I wouldn’t want to feel indebted to you.’
Indebted by a mere ballet ticket? That thread of sensual awareness tightened. Was she worried he’d ask her to pay him back in some nefarious way? Well, she could remain calm, Theo had never needed to coerce a woman in his life. He might have money, but he wasn’t spoiled and he’d never presume.
‘Okay,’ he said equably, but then couldn’t resist teasing her prim dignity. ‘But are you sure you have your wallet on you? You wouldn’t want to make offers you can’t fulfil.’
‘Very funny.’ Sparks lit her lavender eyes, but then her expression wrinkled. ‘Damn it, you’ve made me need to check now.’ She rummaged in her bag again—were those chopsticks in there? But then she extracted a small coin purse with a flourish. No sleek leather wallet filled with elite credit cards for her.
‘I knew I had it,’ she said victoriously. ‘But I swear I had the ticket too.’ She groaned ruefully. ‘What an idiot.’ A sudden little giggle bubbled out.
To his astonishment, his whole world narrowed until he saw only her—sparkling eyes and pretty lips and delight—and he found himself smiling back at her. Frankly it was the most he’d smiled in months.
‘How about you go ahead and order?’ he suggested huskily. ‘I need a second to arrange the seat with the staff.’
‘What would you like to drink?’
‘You choose.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ll have whatever you’re having.’
‘Are you sure you want to risk that?’ she asked, her expression wrinkled again.
‘Why?’ He was surprised into another smile. ‘Now I’m intrigued. Quick, go decide for the both of us.’
He couldn’t resist watching her walk towards the bar. He really was intrigued—she was a contrary mix of shy and awkward and assured. Tall, slender, feminine and acutely refreshing. Just the tonic given the last two months of stress, isolation and uncertainty. But she was definitely cautious and perhaps she was right to be, given his inner temptation was to skip the ballet altogether and carry her back to his bed for the night. He’d worship those long limbs and work very hard to put a smile on her pillowy pout…
So not appropriate. Or normal. Not for him. He’d never followed in the footsteps of his playboy father and he never wanted to. He shook off that outrageous whisper of sin and strode towards the theatre staff. One drink, then it was back to duty.
When he walked back to the bar she was sitting all alone with two tall glasses in front of her and quite obviously trying not to appear self-conscious.
He placed the ticket on the bar beside the two drinks and lifted one. ‘All arranged.’
He needed the drink. But on swallowing he quickly stifled his immediate grimace and subsequent smile. This sour fiery stuff wasn’t quite the champagne he’d been expecting. At first glance he’d guessed she’d be a sweet romantic—sensitivity and shy awkwardness were obvious in her eyes. But then she came out with a line of soft-spoken sarcasm, a penchant for rocket fuel as an aperitif and a self-deprecating giggle that stole a rare smile from him.
‘Thanks,’ she said to him earnestly. ‘That’s so kind of you.’
Oddly he didn’t want her to think he was kind. He wanted a bit more of a reaction than that. He wanted…he paused to battle the full force of what he wanted…but, yeah, it was pretty much everything he shouldn’t want. It was everything illicit.
Leah Turner sipped her drink, stifling the urge to surreptitiously pinch herself. This kind of thing never happened to her. Somehow the most gorgeous guy had intercepted her during her most humiliating moment and gallantly turned her disappointment into something else altogether. And, man, he was gorgeous. Tall, lean, muscular, powerful, he exuded a sensual magnetism that was beyond normal. She’d most certainly never felt sexual attraction from one look. He was so dazzling it was hard to think and she wasn’t sure what she was more rapt about—not missing the entire ballet, or stealing a few minutes of this man’s time.
Because those eyes of his? Green eyes were usually a mix of colours—green mixed with blue or hazel, or bronze. But his were pure forest green. So rare, so startling, she had to constantly tell herself not to stare at him. She tried to stare at her glass instead, but only lasted a mere second before lapsing and gawping at him again. ‘You’re important around here?’
‘No.’
She didn’t believe him. She’d watched him speak with the theatre manager and that woman had been all deferential smiles and soothing words. He held more than charm. He held power. Hell, he’d made Leah feel as if she’d done him a favour by saying yes to taking the ticket.
He smiled and there was something a little dangerous in it. ‘Why are you here alone?’
His accent curled her toes and made her an appalling cliché. She had no idea what the mix was, but it melted her like a lonely snowflake on a sunny windowsill.
‘I’m not.’ She lifted her chin. ‘My friend is already here, but she’s onstage.’
‘She’s a dancer?’
‘Yes. She sent me the ticket but I was running late because I’d stopped to help Maeve with something.’
‘Maeve?’
‘One of the residents at the care home I work at. She’s lovely and we bond over—’ Leah paused, realising she was prattling. ‘Over stuff,’ she finished. He didn’t need to know about her new job and the people she’d already fallen for. ‘Why were you running late?’
‘I was on a call.’
‘Girlfriend problems?’ she guessed, cheekily personal but it just had to be the case. ‘Is that why you’re alone? Did she stand you up?’
His eyebrows lifted in a quizzical look.
‘What—you’re never stood up?’ she asked before thinking, of course, he wasn’t.
‘No girlfriend.’ That gorgeous smile crept across his face as if he were pleased to be able to correct her. ‘That’s the real problem. According to my grandfather anyway.’
‘You were talking to your grandfather?’ She was surprised. ‘He wants you to settle down?’
He nodded mock seriously. ‘And provide heirs to the family fortune.’
For certain there was a family fortune. His suit was so beautifully fitting it had to be tailor-made and the gleaming watch on his wrist screamed luxury
