there was no chance for him to answer. The glass door was pushed violently back. Music and revellers spilled out onto the balcony with equal disruptive force. He sidestepped them and took the opportunity to look at his watch.
‘I ought to be doing my duty in the Press room.’
‘Oh.’ She was horribly disappointed and furious about it. Rebound indeed! She curbed it and held out her hand. ‘Good luck.’
He took it. ‘Will I see you later?’
She shook her head vigorously. As much at her own unwanted fantasies as at him. ‘As soon as I’ve caught up with my prince I’m going home.’
He smiled faintly. She could hear it in his voice. ‘Exprince.’
And he held on to her hand. It was heady stuff.
‘Whatever,’ she said, distracted.
‘You like to be accurate.’
‘Yes.’ She was still oddly shaken. ‘Yes, I suppose I do.’
‘It’s obvious. Well, then, we’d better say goodbye.’
He tugged her hand, bringing her a critical step closer to him. Bent—he had a long way to bend—and brushed her cheek with his lips.
Francesca gulped. For a moment she was in a cloud of cold, pure air, surrounded by cedar and a sense of imminent danger, as if she were facing a climb that was beyond her. And then she was on a crowded balcony again on a wet London night. And the stars had gone in.
‘Er—goodbye,’ she said, more breathless than she would have liked.
He straightened. ‘Good luck yourself. I hope you get your ex-prince.’
Francesca, who never gave up on any of her self-appointed tasks, was for the first time in her life going to pass. She had no intention of doing anything more this evening than going home and trying to get her breath back. But she was not admitting that to anyone else. And, besides, there was always another day. One way or another, she would get the crown prince to one of The Buzz’s book-signings if it killed her.
‘Cast-iron certainty,’ she said, sticking her chin in the air. She was not going to lose focus because Barry de la Touche had dumped her and a tall stranger had not quite kissed her. She was not. She said as much to herself as to him, ‘I always get my man.’
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