LITMIR.BIZ

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home is where?’

      Jinx’s gaze was guarded as she looked up at Nik. ‘London.’

      He sighed. ‘Which part of London?’

      ‘South west,’ she offered unhelpfully, glancing away from the shrewdness in those silver-grey eyes.

      As far as she was concerned it was too coincidental, after those letters sent from James Stephens on his behalf, that Nik Prince was here at this party at all. Neither Susan nor Leo had met him before this evening, and he certainly didn’t look the type to need his sister to elicit a late invitation, as this one appeared to be, to fill his evening.

      No, Jinx had stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago. And Nik Prince being here this evening certainly wasn’t one, either. She just wasn’t sure how much he knew. But he obviously knew enough—from where, or whom, she wasn’t sure—to have arranged to meet her in this roundabout fashion.

      But had he been any more prepared than her for the physical awareness that practically sizzled between them?

      Somehow she doubted it!

      He gave a rueful smile now. ‘In other words, you have no intention of telling me where you live?’

      ‘None at all,’ she confirmed lightly. That was the very last thing she intended doing!

      ‘Then I had better make the most of my time with you this evening, hadn’t I,’ he accepted dryly.

      Jinx eyed him warily. ‘Meaning?’

      He gave a shrug of those powerfully broad shoulders. ‘There’s music in the other room. How about you dance with me as a start?’

      A start to what? And did she really want to be that close to him, to feel the heat of his body only inches away from her own, to have him touching her, his hands touching hers, the warmth of his breath against her temple…?

      ‘Scared?’ he murmured knowingly.

      Jinx straightened immediately, knowing he was goading her in order to achieve his goal, but at the same time unwilling to back down from a man so obviously used to having his own way. ‘Not in the least, Mr Prince,’ she assured him. ‘The truth of the matter is, I can’t remember when I last danced; I may have forgotten how.’

      ‘Dancing is like lovemaking,’ he told her huskily. ‘Once you’ve tried it, you never forget how!’

      So, in spite of her efforts, he was obviously determined to keep this conversation on an intimate level. ‘Then I shouldn’t have any trouble, should I?’ she retorted, turning in the direction of the dining-room where a quartet was softly playing music for the guests to dance to, leaving him to come to his own conclusions concerning her last remark.

      She had been right to be apprehensive about allowing this man too close, she acknowledged several minutes later. Nik Prince had ignored all the rules of social etiquette when dancing with a relative stranger, instead pulling her right against him, his arms about her waist, hands linked at the base of her spine, their bodies touching from chest to thigh as they moved slowly to the music.

      As far as Jinx was concerned, they might have been the only two people dancing. She was totally aware of Nik as her hands rested on his shoulders, her efforts to maintain a distance between them completely thwarted when Nik reached up and gently laid her head against his shoulder before resting his own head against the silky softness of her hair.

      ‘You smell like flowers,’ he murmured close to her ear, his breath as warm as she had known it would be.

      ‘Lily of the Valley soap,’ she dismissed pragmatically.

      He chuckled softly. ‘Are you always this romantic?’

      ‘Are you?’ she came back.

      ‘I don’t believe it’s been one of my character traits to date, no,’ he allowed ruefully. ‘But that could change,’ he added throatily.

      This really hadn’t been a good idea, Jinx acknowledged with an inward groan. Nik’s legs felt hard against her softer ones, the stirring of his thighs unmistakable in such close proximity, the uneven rise and fall of his chest against hers more evidence of his increasing arousal, an arousal that caused a pounding in her own chest and a warmth between her thighs.

      ‘I want you,’ Nik groaned, his words accompanied by a gentle nibble against her ear lobe.

      Jinx quivered with pleasure, shivers of hot and cold tumbling down her spine. But at the same time she wondered how she could put a stop to this. Because she had to stop it. Now. Before it spiralled out of control.

      ‘There’s a woman standing across the room who keeps staring at us,’ she told him, hoping to distract him. ‘Friend of yours?’

      ‘My sister, Stazy,’ Nik answered her without even raising his head, his tongue now tasting the sensitive flesh beneath her ear lobe.

      ‘How can you be sure?’ Jinx pursued determinedly, her voice slightly higher than usual as she fought the instinct of her body to curve itself against his, that marauding tongue now seeking the delicate curves of her ear.

      Nik chuckled softly, the reverberations only increasing the pleasure of his caresses. ‘Stazy has become something of a matchmaker since her own happy marriage a year ago; she’s obviously assessing you to see if you’re suitable wife material for her eldest—and, may I say, favourite?—brother.’

      Jinx pulled back abruptly, staring up at him in disbelief. And then wished she hadn’t. He really was the most ruggedly attractive man, and those grey eyes were pure silver now, shining with an intensity of emotion that was unmistakable. Desire. Arousal. For her.

      Her own pupils had probably dilated until the black practically obliterated the blue. Revealing desire. Arousal. For him.

      She drew in a deep breath. ‘In that case, I think it’s best that we end this now, don’t you?’ She stepped back, feeling the momentary tightening of his arms about her before he reluctantly released her, the expression in his eyes one of regret now.

      ‘Why don’t we just follow my earlier suggestion and leave here to continue this some place more private?’ he asked.

      ‘Like my home?’ Jinx challenged.

      ‘Sounds good.’ He nodded.

      ‘The home I have no intention of taking you to?’ she derided. ‘You misunderstood me a few moments ago when I said it’s time we end this now, Nik—I meant the charade.’

      It was as if a shutter had come down, his eyes no longer silver but a narrowed grey, his expression deliberately—or so it seemed to Jinx—unreadable. ‘Charade?’ he echoed blandly.

      Her mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘Look, I know who you are, and you know who I am. I’m not sure how you know—’ yet! ‘—but I do know it’s totally ridiculous for us to continue with this charade.’

      Those grey eyes narrowed even more, several emotions flickering in their depths, but too briefly for her to analyze.

      ‘Besides,’ she added coldly, ‘I really see no point in your continuing this seduction act any further.’

      ‘Act?’ He sounded outraged. ‘Do you really think I can just manufacture my attraction to you?’

      ‘I think, Mr Prince, that you are capable of manufacturing anything you feel the inclination to,’ she told him candidly, at the same time aware that her attraction to him had been anything but manufactured! ‘Now, if you will excuse me, I think my lift is preparing to leave.’ She had just spotted Dick and Janet saying their goodnights to the other guests. ‘But for the record, Mr Prince,’ she paused to add huskily, ‘as predicted, having now met you “in person”, the answer is still an emphatic no! There will be no movie.’

      His mouth thinned. ‘Isn’t that for your father to say, and not you?’

      Jinx continued to look at him for several long seconds

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