'No amount of money would induce me to have a conversation with you, Philip, let alone a date,' she said with exaggerated dignity. Having clarified the situation to her satisfaction, she turned to Andreas with a smile that would have illuminated Athens on a dark night. 'Shall we go?'
Andreas wondered what could have upset her so much that she'd be willing to leave the bar with a total stranger. She hadn't even asked his name and she was clinging to his hand as if it were a lifeline.
A totally inexplicable need to protect her slammed through him and he tightened his grip. 'Yes, let's go.'
He held the door open for her and she walked past him, long-legged and graceful, managing remarkably well on those high heels considering the volume of alcohol she appeared to have consumed. Up close she seemed more fragile than she had on the stage and he was suddenly aware of just how delicate she was compared to him. Her arms and wrists were slender, her waist was impossibly tiny and her long, slim legs seemed to go on for ever.
She climbed the stairs carefully, cheerfully greeting various members of the medical staff who passed. But he sensed that the cheerfulness was for everyone else's benefit and his firm mouth tightened as he contemplated the possible reasons for her distress. Obviously it had something to do with the blond man who thought she was only worth £10.
They reached the top of the stairs and he took her arm as they walked towards the car park.
'Exactly how much alcohol have you consumed?'
'None. I don't drink. Although perhaps I should have done tonight. At least alcohol might have numbed the utter humiliation of being on that stage. I can't believe I ever thought it would be a good idea. Thank goodness you came when you did. That creep almost bought me,' she slurred, bending down to remove her shoes. 'Ouch. Sorry. They're really uncomfortable.'
Did she think he was a fool?
It was perfectly obvious that she'd been drinking.
Andreas frowned. 'If you found it humiliating, why did you agree to do it?' he asked, noticing that without her shoes she had to tilt her head to look at him.
Her shoes dangled from her fingers. 'I did it because I promised that I would and I never break promises.'
'You didn't want to do it?'
'I would rather have dug a hole and buried myself,' she said frankly. 'Standing on that stage and trying to look cheerful was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I almost died with relief when you rescued me. For a horrible moment I thought that my rotten brother had abandoned me to my fate. Which reminds me, I need to write you a cheque.'
He looked at her blankly as she rummaged in her bag and produced a cheque book.
'A thousand pounds, wasn't it?' She scribbled on the cheque, tore it out and handed it to him. 'A bit steep, but never mind. It was very decent of you to turn up and buy me.'
She staggered slightly and Andreas closed both hands over her arms to steady her.
'Why are you giving me a cheque?'
She stared up at him vacantly and he found himself noticing the perfect shape of her mouth.
'Because that was the agreement.'
Still studying her mouth, Andreas struggled to concentrate. 'What agreement?'
She hesitated, obviously trying to retrieve something from her memory that the alcohol had wiped out. 'The agreement I made with my brother,' she said finally, a smile of triumph on her face as she remembered. 'He promised that if he couldn't make it he'd send someone else to save me from Philip, and … ' she smiled at him dizzily ' … he obviously sent you.'
Andreas dragged his eyes away from her mouth. 'I don't know your brother.'
She tilted her head and focused on him. 'You don't?' She bit her soft lip, confusion evident in her beautiful eyes. 'Alex promised me that if he was too busy to come he'd send someone to put in an outrageous bid for me so that no one else could buy me. I assumed it was you … '
He shook his head, totally intrigued. Her brother had promised to buy her? 'Not me.'
She swallowed hard. 'Well, if you didn't buy me for my brother then why did you-?' She broke off and backed away from him, her eyes suddenly wary. 'Who the hell are you? And why would you pay that much money for a stranger?'
'I thought that was the idea,' Andreas said mildly. Clearly she was questioning his motives and he could hardly blame her for that. 'Surely you wanted to persuade the audience to part with their money?'
'Well, yes, but not a thousand pounds.' She was still staring at him as if she expected him to attack her at any moment. 'If you think that paying all that money guarantees you-I mean, if you think that I'll … ' She stumbled over the words, clearly embarrassed, and then gave up and gave him a threatening look. 'What I mean is, you're in for a serious disappointment because I don't do that!'
He hid his amusement. 'They were auctioning a date, Libby,' he reminded her calmly, and she glared at him.
'And doubtless you took that to mean sex because that's what all men expect, and then afterwards I discover the wife and the child.'
Andreas blinked, trying to keep up with her thought processes. 'I don't generally find I have to pay for sex,' he drawled, and she tipped her head on one side and studied him closely, her small pink tongue snaking out and moistening her lips.
'No, I'm sure you don't. But, then, I bet you don't usually have to pay for dates either.'
Andreas inclined his head. 'True.'
Normally he had to play all sorts of games to keep women at a distance.
Which made his current behaviour all the more unbelievable.
She obviously agreed with him if the expression on her face was anything to go by. 'So why did you pay such an outrageous amount of money for a date with me?'
He was asking himself the same question.
'Because I can afford it and because you're very beautiful,' he replied.
She took a few more steps backwards, clutching her shoes tightly. 'Well, I suggest you take the cheque I'm offering you,' she said coldly. 'I only agreed to do the auction because Alex promised he would buy me. I never, ever would have done it if I'd thought I'd actually have to go on a date. I don't date men. Men are rats and creeps.'
Andreas ran an experienced eye down a length of perfect thigh. A less likely candidate for celibacy he had yet to see. But there was no missing the utter misery in her blue eyes.
It didn't take a genius to work out that someone had obviously hurt her badly.
'You've obviously been mixing with the wrong men,' he said softly, and she gave a humourless laugh.
'Funnily enough, I've worked that out for myself. From now on, no more relationships.'
Unable to resist teasing her, Andreas smiled. 'What about sex?'
He watched with fascination as colour bloomed in her cheeks.
'I'm old-fashioned,' she muttered. 'I don't have sex without a relationship and seeing that men are hopeless at relationships, I've given up.'
'So tell me.' He stepped closer to her, his attention caught by the fullness of her lower lip. 'Who was responsible for putting you off relationships?'
'You want the short version or the long version?' She shrugged carelessly but he guessed that she was battling with tears and he frowned, wondering what it was about her that made him feel so protective. Not that she would have thanked him for those feelings, he reflected wryly. These days women wanted to hunt their own dragons and kill them.
'Whichever you want to tell me.'
'Well, I suppose I'd have to start with my parents, who were definitely not a shining example of marital harmony. They never touched.' She flashed him a suggestive smile. 'Well, of course, they must have touched once, or they wouldn't have had me, but fortunately for them they had triplets so they managed to get all the physical contact out of the way in one go.'
Andreas thought of his own childhood and the love and emotional support he'd been given. It had been something that he'd taken for granted at the time, but his work as a paediatrician had brought him into contact with enough children from less privileged backgrounds than his for him to have been able to appreciate the impact that parental dis-harmony could have on a child's view of life.
'Their relationship put you off men?'
'That and personal experience in the field,' she said gloomily. 'My most recent disaster turned out to be married.'
Andreas frowned. 'That's what you meant by your comment about discovering the wife and child? You've definitely been dating the wrong men.'
'Don't use that smooth, seductive tone on me,' she advised, swaying slightly as she looked at him. 'It is totally wasted. I don't trust anyone. From now on I'm cynical and suspicious. And the more attractive the man, the higher my index of suspicion. I ought to warn you that with you it's soaring through the roof.'
Before he could reply he saw her glance over his shoulder and her whole body tensed.
Wondering what had caused her reaction, he turned his head briefly and saw the blond man hurrying towards them, looking agitated.