Logan woke early to the sounds of morning traffic rising from the streets below and to an unfamiliar sense of well-being.
Beside him, Sally slept soundly. She looked impossibly young and defenceless as she lay there, with her bright curls tumbling over the pillow and the white sheet pushed aside to reveal one sweet, pink-tipped breast. He thought again about what she’d told him about the mongrel at the dance and he was gripped by an overwhelming desire to protect her.
But that urge was tempered by an equally irresistible desire to wake Sally. A few soft kisses would stir her and she would roll towards him, welcoming the new day with more love-making—open, honest, tender-sweet, unabashed lovemaking.
Logan sighed heavily. That exquisite pleasure would have to be set aside for now. It was Friday morning and a particularly unpleasant business day awaited him.
He was used to waking every working morning to a sense of pressure and worry, but today he faced particularly unpleasant duties. Maria’s quiet but immediate departure had to be arranged, and he had to notify his competitors that he knew what they’d been up to. And he needed to take another careful look at his long-term strategies.
He went through to the kitchen, turned on his coffee machine, then went to the bathroom and shaved and showered. Sally woke when he came back into the bedroom with a towel around his hips.
She grinned at him, hitched on to one elbow and let her eyes rake over his body with frank admiration and the temptation to dive back into bed with her was almost too much.
Sensing his hesitation, she looked momentarily disappointed, then sniffed the air. ‘You’ve already made coffee. Have I slept in? What time is it?’
‘After seven.’
With a groan she rolled to the edge of the bed. ‘Will we have time to go via my place so I can get clean clothes before work?’
‘If you get a wriggle on.’
‘And I’ll need breakfast. I can’t function on a cup of coffee the way you can, Logan.’ In the bathroom doorway, she turned back to him. ‘I just remembered we’re going to the ball tonight.’
Her teeth flashed white and she sent him an excited smile before she disappeared, but Logan didn’t feel nearly so happy. The last thing he needed at the end of this difficult day was the ordeal of dancing in public with Diana Devenish.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SALLY sat in front of her dressing table mirror, wrapped in an old Japanese kimono that had once been Chloe’s, and gave her lips a final dab of colour.
After the magic of last night and the strange tension of carrying on at work today as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, it was almost too exciting to have this evening’s ball to look forward to as well.
It had been so hard to behave normally at work. She was so over-the-top in love with Logan she thought she might burst with happiness and she’d half-expected people to take one look at her and know everything about last night.
Mid-morning, Maria Paige had marched past, wearing dark glasses and carrying her briefcase. She’d completely ignored Sally, but her exit had caused a distinctly uncomfortable moment. Luckily, neither Kim nor Maeve knew about Maria’s departure, so the subject hadn’t come up at lunch time and this evening Sally wanted to think about nothing except the exciting night ahead of her.
She had taken enormous care with her make-up and with the added glamour of upswept curls, courtesy of Patrick the hairdresser from around the corner, she looked like someone in a fashion magazine rather than Sally Finch from Tarra-Binya.
Time to get dressed. The gold lamé dress, selected by Agathe from the shop in Rose Bay, was hanging on the outside of the mahogany wardrobe, shimmering palely as if it were woven from starlight.
Very carefully, Sally lifted it from its hanger and stepped into it, then inched it gently, gently upwards. Butterflies flapped madly in her stomach as the expensive fabric glided silkily up, over her hips and her breasts. She slipped the shoestring straps over her shoulders, then held her breath as she reached behind and slid the zipper into place.
Cautiously, she executed a little twirl in the middle of the bedroom. Perfect. The gown hugged her like a second skin. But it was oh, so easy to move in. Sally caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and felt a little shiver. Was that glamorous, sexy woman really her?
She was confident that Logan would love this dress, but of course his main focus tonight would be getting through the waltz with Diana Devenish.
OK…now jewellery. She had decided to wear a locket that had been Chloe’s—gorgeous antique gold with a pale blue topaz surrounded by tiny pearls.
Lifting the locket from a velvet-lined box, she held it for a sentimental moment, testing the weight of it in her palm. She curled her fingers around it, felt the cool, neat facets of the topaz, the smooth little bumps of the pearls.