‘I don’t drink.’
That didn’t surprise her. She’d never met a better candidate for alcoholism.
As if he read her mind, he elaborated. ‘I don’t like to blur my faculties. In my line of business that’s counterproductive.’
She didn’t miss his use of the present tense. ‘To running a posh retreat in the country?’
He dropped his gaze back to hers, his smile tight. ‘With you I need to stay on my toes.’ His gaze swept over her embroidered bodice so quickly she thought she’d imagined it. ‘My senses are already addled enough without adding liquor to the equation.’
The heat in his eyes told her exactly what—who—was responsible for that. Addled was a good word for how she’d been feeling all night herself. She blinked up at him.
‘What are we doing?’ she squeaked as she suddenly found herself being towed towards the dance floor.
‘It’s called dancing, Romy. People like it.’ His voice thinned.
‘You didn’t ask me if I wanted to dance!’ Okay, now she really was just picking a fight.
‘I didn’t need to. You look like you either want to be kissed or touched. Given the gathered audience, I’m going for touched.’
Her mouth gaped like the trout Clint stocked in WildSprings’s waterways. He swung her into a tiny gap on the crowded dance floor, forcing them to press close together. Extremely close together. Her body still fit perfectly against his. Her heels meant her cheek was closer to his shoulder than his chest, for a change, but otherwise the hardness of his body and the softness of hers merged as they effortlessly moved to the gentle music.
This is not heavenly, this is not heavenly…
But, oh, Lord, it was pure heaven. She didn’t have enough experience with men to know whether all dancing felt like this. Whether all men smelled like he did. Whether all kisses tingled like his had. Every living part of her wanted to crawl into the circle of his arms and never come out. To be cherished and spoiled and watched over forever. To be able to put aside the load…just for a little bit.
It was almost as seductive as the feel of his hips pressed close against hers by the crowd. And they were only dancing. Imagine how it would be if—
‘No!’ She pulled away from him. Tense heat simmered down on her but he gave her some air. If not complete freedom. She trained her focus where his hands still held her in a velvet vice.
‘I didn’t realise agreeing to come along tonight meant I’d be chained to your side all evening.’ Okay, it was a bitch of a thing to say but she had to put some space between them. And if it couldn’t be physical…
His nostrils flared, his eyes blazed, but he remained silent. And his hold on her loosened a hint further. But not entirely. She scanned the room nervously, hoping for salvation. It wasn’t that she was in any danger, but she suddenly didn’t feel…safe.
His face tightened. ‘You’re going to have to do something about the mixed messages you’re sending, Romy. They’re triggering my innate need to conquer. I’m trained to overcome obstacles and you do have a way of stacking them up irresistibly.’
Conquer. Overcome. These were not concepts she was comfortable with but they roused some slumbering beast living deep inside of her. A creature that didn’t crack open an eye very often. A fundamental, ancient need to align herself with the strongest male, one who could provide and protect.
And procreate.
The most base level of survival instincts. And Romy was struggling with the purely chemical, Darwinian response of a mammal recognising its perfect mate.
She stumbled in his hold.
‘Romy, would you like to dance?’ Steve Lawson was suddenly by her side, materialising out of nowhere. His ruddy cheeks were paler than usual but he had a determined expression on his face and, after only a moment of doubt, he met Clint’s less-than-pleased glare. ‘You don’t mind, mate, right?’
Oh, bless you and your country courage, Steven Lawson! Knights in shining armour sometimes didn’t come on a horse. Carolyn’s anxious face bobbed in and out of view across the crowded room. Romy freed herself from the strong grip keeping her captive.
‘Thank you, Steve, I’d love to. And, no, he doesn’t mind.’
She practically fell into her friend’s careful hold as Clint dissolved back into the crowd. For the first minute, Steve did all the work, holding her upright, keeping her moving, chatting away casually, and it gave her the time she needed to recover her composure.
Somewhat.
When the dance ended, someone else swooped in to take Steve’s place. A complete and welcome stranger. Then another and another. Romy danced with half the town before she began to suspect Carolyn was orchestrating this social interference. Either that or the novelty of a single woman willing to dance in a female-deficient environment had caught on. Regardless, the result was the same. After one unsuccessful attempt to reclaim her, Clint had taken up post in the corner of the room, scaring off with a glare anyone who approached him.
Not that she was watching.
She was exhausted when the band finally stopped for a break, but—amazingly—she really had enjoyed being the belle of the ball. When else in her life had that ever happened? She’d met a swag of new people and, conveniently, it gave her the perfect excuse not to think about the giant thundercloud in the corner.
Or her feelings for him, more specifically.
Her pleasure at the flattering attentions of the men in the room was not a patch on the intense rush she’d experienced when Clint had first seen her this evening. He’d called her Cinderella and, standing in the glow of her Honda’s headlights clothed in a fairytale dress and shoes costing a fortnight’s salary, it was exactly how she’d felt. Like no rules applied tonight because it was a magical night.
And Clint had been her prince. His frank appraisal in the headlights had been both honest and raw. The liquid magma heating his gaze had come from a place so deep she found it impossible not to respond.
But then they’d made small talk. Danced. Argued. And the real world came crashing back in the same split second she realised she was badly attracted to Clint McLeish. Biologically attracted. Damaged, angry, military Clint. A man torn apart from the institution which sustained him—that he still very clearly wished he was a part of. A man trained in the same methodology as her father.
She reached for the table edge to steady herself.
What kind of cosmic reward was this? She’d done her best to overcome challenges in life, had never once complained about the predicament her own foolish actions had left her in. She’d studied and worked hard and had taken on a grown-up’s responsibility before she really was one. And her reward…?
To find herself perilously close to falling for the absolute worst kind of man for her.
She closed her eyes and took several deep, steadying breaths.
‘Romy?’
She spun around, blinking, her internal
