His Secretary's Surprise Fiancé(12)

"Dance with me?" she asked, a hint of uncertainty in her gaze.

Had he put that vulnerability there? He hadn't spent much time with her  this evening, handling the room with the same "divide and conquer"  approach they'd used in the past at events he'd needed to attend. But  tonight was different. Or at least, it should be. If he'd had Adelaide  by his side earlier, Valentina might not have tried to ambush him in a  dark corner.

"With pleasure." He lifted Adelaide's hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss along her knuckles. Her skin smelled like roses.

He'd done it to reassure her that he wanted to be with her. To thank her for sending Valentina on her way.

At least, the kiss started out with good intentions. But as the slow  blues tune hit a long, sultry note, Dempsey couldn't seem to let her go.  Adelaide was getting under his skin tonight, and it wasn't just that  damnable dress. So he flipped her hand over and placed a kiss in her  palm, where he felt her pulse flutter under his lips. Which made him  think about all the other ways he could send her heart racing. All the  pulse points he could cover with his mouth. In turn, his own heart  slugged harder inside his chest.

Every damn thing got harder.

"My song will be over by the time we get out there," she whispered, though she didn't sound terribly disappointed.

Her pupils dilated so wide there was just a hint of color around the edges.

"It's less crowded right here." He wanted her to himself, he realized. Craved her, in fact. "Plenty of room to dance."

"Really?" She peered around them. "I guess it's the kind of thing an engaged couple would do."

"Exactly." He pulled her into his arms, fitting her curves against him,  close enough to catch her scent, but not nearly as close as he'd like.  "No sense letting anyone think Valentina caused any drama."

At the mention of the woman's name, Addy's gaze dropped. He cursed  himself for being an idiot as he backed them closer to the open doors  leading out to the balcony.

"Is that what this whole charade is about?" she asked when she looked  up at him again. "Have I been promoted to your round-the-clock  protection from the she-wolves of the world?"

She couldn't be jealous. Yet the thought nearly made him miss a step.

"No." He lowered his voice, knowing how the walls had ears at events  like this. "You and I have a whole lot more at stake between us and I  think you know it."                       
       
           



       

"If there's more at stake, you might want to up your game while we're  in public, since newly engaged men don't tend to prowl the perimeters of  parties alone." She practically vibrated in his arms as he drew her out  onto the balcony and into the farthest deserted corner.

He couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to him with so much fire in her eyes.

"You're jealous." He tested the idea by saying it out loud as he studied her in the moonlight. The song came to an end.

He didn't let go of her.

"And you're mine for four weeks, Dempsey Reynaud." She tipped her chin  up at him. "I suggest you act like it if you want to pull off this ruse  of your own making."

Heat rushed up his spine in a molten blast. The need to offer her what  she'd asked for made him grip her tighter, pulling her hip to hip, chest  to breasts.

And if that was a little too much PDA for a charity event, too damn  bad. It wasn't anywhere near enough for what he wanted to do with her.  She felt even better up close than he'd imagined, and his head had been  full of inventive scenarios all week.

"Careful what you wish for, Addy," he warned her, grateful for the night shadows that kept them hidden.

He'd been a gentleman for her sake. At least now she would know exactly  how much he was feeling like her fiancé. Her hips cradled the hard  length he couldn't begin to hide.

And that was when things got crazy. Because instead of storming off  like his affronted best friend, Adelaide gripped the lapels of his  tuxedo and pressed a kiss to his lips.





Five

Adelaide saw stars.

Clutching Dempsey's jacket, she fulfilled a secret dream as her lips  brushed along his. They stood under the night sky, his back shielding  her from view. Behind her, the iron bars of the balcony pressed against  her spine. In front of her, warm male muscle was equally unyielding but  oh-so-enticing.

She'd seen a chance to surprise him-just as her mother had  suggested-and she'd taken it. She knew better than to think this fake  engagement was going anywhere. But she could use this time to indulge  herself and her long-standing fantasies about Dempsey. Because in less  than four weeks, things were going to change between them forever when  she left her job with the Hurricanes.

Her senses reeling, she broke the kiss, needing to put some distance  between them. He didn't move far from her, though. It took another long  moment before he released her.

"Let's go," he urged, threading his fingers through hers and claiming a hand.

Blinking through the fog of desire, Adelaide followed him, her steps  smaller and quicker by necessity due to the fitted gown. Her lips  tingled pleasantly, her nerve endings humming with awareness of the man  beside her.

"Are you sure we should leave?" She glanced around the private rooms at  the full dance floor, the crammed gaming tables, the busy bar stations.  "As hosts of the event-"

"We've done our part," he assured her. "The event planner will take it from here. And I'm dying to get you alone."

To explore what she'd started? She hadn't missed the indication of  attraction when she'd been pressed up against him. But she couldn't  afford to trade her heart for a night in his bed, and she knew herself  well enough to know that was a very real possibility. Her feelings for  Dempsey had always been strong. Complicated. And this engagement wasn't  exactly simplifying matters.

"I didn't mean to send mixed signals." She hated to have this  conversation here, in a quiet corridor as they waited for an elevator.  But it was too important to wait. "I got caught up in the moment-" She  bit her lip to refrain from telling him about her mother's suggestion  that she surprise him.

She'd taken the gamble, but she wasn't sure she was ready for the payout he had in mind.

"Will you promise me something?" His eyes searched hers, as if he could  see straight through to her heart. "Will you think about how rewarding  it could be to get caught up in another moment? Not tonight, maybe. But  we've got a lot of days to spend together and I think there's something  worth exploring in that kiss."

Her heart did a little flip that made her feel woozy and breathless at  the same time. She settled for a nod, unable to articulate an answer  just now.

He pressed a button for the elevator and stepped into the cabin behind  her when it arrived. His grandfather, family patriarch Leon Reynaud,  stood against one wall inside the elevator. Adelaide didn't know him  well, but he attended all of the Hurricanes home games and she'd seen  him in the owner's suite on the fifty-yard line a few times.                       
       
           



       

He'd been a big man in another era, playing football and becoming a  successful team owner of a Texas franchise until he'd sold it to be  closer to his grandsons in Louisiana. But the years had bowed his back  and he'd grown much thinner. Dempsey had told her once that Leon had  never considered himself a good parent to his own sons and because of  that, he tried harder to be a presence for his grandsons. Adelaide knew  for a fact the older man held far more of Dempsey's respect than his  philandering father, Theo.

"Hello, Mr. Reynaud," she greeted him while Dempsey clapped him on the shoulder.

"We're heading home, Grand-père. Do you need a ride?" Dempsey asked.

"No need. I want to try my hand at blackjack and see if the Reynaud  luck holds." He gave Adelaide a rakish grin and straightened his already  perfect tie. "My dear, did you know my own grandfather won his first  boat in a game of cards? From there, he grew the Zephyr Shipping  empire."

It was a much-loved bit of Reynaud lore.

"Adelaide probably knows the family history as well as I do." Dempsey  met her gaze for a moment and she drank in the compliment.

He rarely handed out praise, especially publicly. The elevator bell  chimed, and the door opened to the first floor. She stepped out into the  crowd while Dempsey held the door for his grandfather.

"Adelaide, you say?" Leon frowned as he moved slowly toward the bar,  his expression blank for a moment before his gray brows furrowed. "Be  careful with the ladies, son. You wouldn't want your wife to find out."