Hot-Shot Surgeon, Cinderella Bride. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ as the music finally faded. ‘You’re something else! What’s your name?’

      Kelly laughed. ‘Cinderella.’

      He grinned. ‘Fair enough. Can I get you a glass of champagne, Cinders?’

      ‘No—thank you.’

      They both turned at the sound of the decisive negative, and Kelly felt a prickle run down her spine. How had he moved so fast? He must have been waiting for precisely this opportunity.

      The musketeer swept a hand up in front of his chest and then moved it sideways in a graceful arc that left his fingers enticingly close to Kelly’s.

      ‘My dance, I think,’ he said.

      ‘Hang on, buddy!’ Robin Hood was scowling. ‘I was just going to get…’

      Kelly could see, no—feel the commanding stare her recent dance partner was receiving. In normal life that kind of arrogance would have put her back up instantly— but this wasn’t normal life, was it? It was a fairytale, and he wanted to dance with her.

      With a totally uncharacteristic, demure downward glance, Kelly put her hand into his.

      The touch of her hand was like…like nothing Tony had ever felt before when his skin had come into contact with that of another person.

      Thank goodness she took his hand when she did, because Tony had been experiencing an astonishingly strong desire to say something to Robin Hood that he might regret.

      No one, nothing, was going to take away his chance to meet this woman. He tightened his grip around that slim hand.

      What on earth was happening to him? The Grimshaws never behaved with anything less that the utmost decorum in public. He cast a suspicious glance at the cause of his unusual emotional state, but she was looking at the floor and standing very still in that poised manner she had. If Tony hadn’t just spent nearly ten minutes watching her dance and finding his heart rate steadily increasing, his breathing becoming shallow and his tight breeches becoming less comfortable by the second, he might have believed her to be completely innocent.

      Robin Hood muttered something unintelligible as he melted into the crowd, and it was only then that the princess raised her gaze. Tony was instantly aware of two things.

      That they both knew their behaviour to her last dance partner had been unacceptably rude but also unavoidable. And that something was happening here that was simply meant to be.

      Something as unreal as pretending to be part of a medieval gathering.

      No. He’d better make that three things.

      His awareness of this woman’s beauty had been overwhelming even from the distance of the pillars. This close, Tony could believe he was looking at the nearest thing to perfection in a woman he’d ever seen.

      Dark, dark blue eyes. Pale skin made all the more dramatic by the fall of that glorious wig. He’d been watching the black ripples that fell to her waist lift and swirl as she danced, and was thankful she hadn’t braided it, or bundled it up to wear one of those pointy hats with veils attached at the sides that some women were wearing tonight. Dark stones like teardrops lay against her forehead, and the chain of jewels was the only restraint to her loose, flowing locks.

      His hand lifted of its own accord to touch a soft curl.

      ‘Nice,’ he murmured. ‘It feels almost real.’

      ‘Does it?’ A tiny smile pulled up the corners of her mouth and Tony found himself staring. Trying to extinguish what threatened to be an irresistible urge to kiss her.

      Right here. Right now. In the middle of a dance floor where people around them had already started to dance to a new bracket of songs. Slightly faster music at the moment. Like his heartbeat.

      ‘Shall we?’ He gave a mock bow. Play-acting seemed to be the way forward here, because none of this felt real.

      ‘Please.’ The smile had an impish quality. ‘But…’

      ‘But?’

      ‘I’m just wondering how safe it is to dance with you.’

      Oh, not safe at all, he thought, but he pressed his lips closed on the warning and raised his eyebrows instead.

      ‘Your sword?’

      ‘Oh…’ With a slow, deliberate, one-handed movement, Tony unbuckled the big silver clasp and pulled the belt from his waist. He looked up to inform the princess of his plan to drop the accessory out of the way—by the pillars, perhaps, along with his hat.

      She looked up at the same instant, from where she had clearly been staring at his hands, and when he saw the tip of her tongue emerge to run across her bottom lip it felt as if some giant vice was squeezing every last molecule of oxygen from his chest.

       Yes!

      She wanted him. The way he wanted her.

      Desire threatened to suffocate him. He could simply walk out of this ballroom and take her somewhere more private, couldn’t he? No. It was a long time since he’d been an inexperienced teenager, for whom where lust could obliterate the ability to think clearly. This combination of confidence and anticipation might be heady stuff, but experience had taught him something else as well. It was a thrill that should be savoured for as long as possible.

      Somehow he sucked in a breath as he led her to the edge of the floor to get rid of his unwanted accessories. Then he drew her into his arms.

      ‘Did I hear correctly?’ he enquired politely. ‘Is your name Cindy?’

      Those eyes were huge and… Dear Lord, even the way she blinked so slowly was erotic.

      ‘Yes,’ she said softly.

      ‘Cindy who?’

      ‘Does it matter?’

      ‘It might.’

      He could feel her responsiveness as he manoeuvred them to a clear space on the floor. She felt weightless in his arms, like an extension of his own body rather than a separate partner. God, if she felt like this on a dance floor, what would she be like in bed?

      He saw the way the soft mounds of her breasts, pushed up by the corset top of her dress, rose even further as she took a deep breath. His mouth went dry.

      ‘Riley,’ she said at last. ‘My name is Cindy Riley.’

      ‘And you work at the hospital, Cindy Riley?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Whereabouts? Which department?’

      ‘All over.’ She was smiling again. ‘A bit of everything, really.’

      Ah… She must be a pool nurse. Filling in wherever they required assistance. No wonder he hadn’t seen her often enough in one place to recognise her. Tony ignored the scoffing sound in the back of his mind. The voice that said he would have only needed to see her once to recognise СКАЧАТЬ