She snapped out of her daydream to find that Ben was waiting for her to say something. What? What? What on earth had he been talking about?
‘Yes,’ she said automatically, which produced a smile of pleasure.
‘Great. I know some women don’t like being the first on the dance floor, but you’re a game gal. My lady…this dance!’#p#分页标题#e#
Charlotte watched in horror as she realised what she had agreed to. They were in a jazz club, one which was currently sporting an empty dance floor, despite the fact that the music was good and the tables arranged around the circumference were brimming with people. And she was about to make a complete fool of herself by strutting her stuff with Ben.
‘Sorry!’ She smiled brightly and ignored the outstretched hand. ‘Misheard. Thought you asked if I’d ever been to France!’
Ben had started doing a little wiggle in front of the table, hand still beckoning. Lord, why? Even though he was not in full flow, Charlotte could see that he would be one of life’s enthusiastic dancers as opposed to one with rhythm.
Now he was threatening to move round the table and hoist her to her feet and she stood up, glancing with deep embarrassment around her, and took to the dance floor.
‘You should have warned me about this!’ she yelled into his ear. ‘I would have prepared myself!’
‘How?’
‘By drinking twelve bottles of wine beforehand!’
‘You’re doing fine!’
She swore that the wretched live band stretched the short number out for as long as possible just for the cabaret spectacle, and even more mortifying was the round of applause that greeted them at the end of the number. And she had been right about Ben. He flung himself around the dance floor like someone hopping on red-hot bricks and, having broken the ice, didn’t seem inclined to do the decent thing and scuttle back to the table.
But at least the dance floor was filling out the way it did when two people had broken the ice by making perfect fools of themselves. And it was a slow number, so no more kangaroo hops, at least for the moment. When he wrapped her in his arms, Charlotte forced her body to relax against his and was just beginning to believe that really, yes, she was feeling some kind of physical link between them, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She raised her head and there he was, staring at her with something close to amusement, and she felt her stomach clench into a knot of pure horror.
What on earth was Riccardo doing in a jazz club in the centre of London? Didn’t he have empires to run and universes to conquer? And how was it that, having been absent from her life for the past eight years, he had now been seen twice in the space of a fortnight?
‘May I?’ He was looking at Ben with a pleasant smile and, poor innocent that he was, Ben was responding with a warm smile back. Couldn’t he see that the man was a viper? ‘I’m an old friend.’
Charlotte felt Riccardo’s hand on her elbow and opened her mouth to stage a protest, only belatedly remembering that she and Ben were supposed to be engaged. What if Riccardo decided to offer his heartfelt congratulations to the happy couple? She plastered a smile on her face and stood between both men, her back to Riccardo, physically keeping them as far apart as she could to prevent any unfortunate conversations taking place.
‘You sit!’ she shouted to Ben over the music. ‘You can get me something to drink—one of those cocktails!’
‘Obedient little puppy, isn’t he?’ Riccardo said, swooping her into a twirl and then pulling her back into him so that their bodies met with way too much force for her liking. Like sleight of hand, he had managed to manoeuvre them into the corner, where the music didn’t seem quite as loud so Charlotte didn’t have to yell to reply.
#p#分页标题#e#
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Do I read disapproval in that question? As far as I am aware, I don’t need a special pass from you to get into a jazz club in London. If you remember, I happen to like jazz very much.’
Charlotte was remembering lots of things, and his love of jazz music was the least disconcerting of her memories. She remembered dancing with him out in the open to some tinny music from the speakers on her radio, she remembered the feel of his body pressing against her and the way she had laughed, throwing her head back, looking forward to where all that sexy dancing was going to go later.
‘I saw you on the dance floor with the fiancé,’ he murmured into her ear. ‘Very brave of you.’
‘Yes, well, Ben is adventurous like that,’ Charlotte said coolly. Every time she tried to inch away from him, he pulled her gently back, his hand placed firmly in the small of her back.