“I’ll hum.”
He was treating her like a football he had tucked under his arm as he zigzagged his way to the dance floor. Fortunately, the music did start just as he pulled her into his arms.
“Alec?” she began.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
He’d been looking over the crowd but glanced down and smiled. “You saw him coming?”
The top of her head bumped his chin when she nodded. Her fingers were tickling the back of his neck. He was trying hard not to show any reaction, but he couldn’t help thinking how soft and right she felt in his arms. When she looked directly into his eyes, he began to imagine all sorts of things.
Man, did he need to get laid. Yeah, that was why she was having such a powerful effect on him. Lust. That’s what it was. Plain old lust. And he needed to clear his head and stop thinking about how good she would feel in his arms in his bed with her legs…
“We won’t have to stay much longer.”
One of the waiters caught his attention. He was standing by the door holding an oval tray. He was staring at Regan. While Alec watched, another waiter tapped the man on his shoulder and got him moving again.
“I’m not in a hurry to leave.”
“Who are you watching?” she asked.
The waiter carried the empty tray out of the room. “No one in particular.”
“You’re not bored to death?”
He smiled. “I’m still breathing, aren’t I?”
The song ended. Men were moving in on Regan, but Alec managed to run interference and get her back to the table without stopping.
“You’re being rude dragging me along. I’m supposed to be nice to these people so they’ll give me some of their hard-earned money for the hospital expansion.”
“Most of the people here didn’t earn their money. They inherited it.”
“Yes, but I still have to-”
He cut her off. “You can be nice sitting here,” he said. He pulled out her chair and added, “You don’t want Cordie to sit all by herself, do you?”
The chair hit the back of her knees. She didn’t have a choice. She was sitting whether she wanted to or not.
“You have noticed Cordie isn’t at the table. She’s dancing.”
“Yes, but she’s coming back. You look cold,” he remarked. He sat down next to her. “Why don’t you put your blanket back on.”
One eyelid dropped. “It isn’t a blanket.”
He draped the wrap around her shoulders, and his finger trailed down the side of her neck. She sat beside him for several minutes watching the couples on the dance floor, but every once in a while, she’d glance over at him. Had she imagined the touch, the shiver he’d evoked? Was she that starved for affection that a simple brush of his hand against her skin sent her into a spin?
Don’t think about it, she told herself. Think about something else. Her friends. Yes, she’d think about them. Were they having a good time? Sophie looked as if she was. She and Jeff were having an animated conversation as they waltzed past, and Cordie, she noticed, was dancing with Aiden.
“What do you think of my friends?”
Alec was watching Cordie when he answered. “I like them.”
She smiled as though he’d just complimented her. “When we were little, Cordie and I were certain that Sophie would be married before she turned twenty, but now we’re not so sure she’ll ever settle down. She’s having too much fun. Cordie, on the other hand, is a true romantic. She says she’s waiting for her one true love.”
Alec nodded toward the dance floor. “Maybe she’s already found him.”
She leaned in to Alec’s side while she looked over the crowd.
When she found Cordie, she burst into laughter. “She’s dancing with Aiden, for heaven’s sake.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Are you suggesting that Cordie and Aiden…?” She laughed again. The possibility was ludicrous to her.
Alec wanted to tell her to watch her friend’s face. The way that Cordie was looking at Aiden more than suggested that she at least had the hots for the guy. Alec didn’t think Aiden had a clue, though, how Cordie felt.
“I could be wrong,” he said, deciding to be diplomatic.
“You are wrong. Aiden thinks of Cordie as my friend. Nothing more. He watched her grow up because she was always at our house. And she thinks of him as my brother-”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. And nothing more, right?”
“That’s right.”
They continued to watch the dancing couples.
“Daniel’s looking worried,” Regan said.
“Who’s Daniel?”
“Daniel O’Donnell.”
She could tell he still didn’t know whom she was talking about. “The hospital administrator. He’s waiting for me to circulate and beg for money. Would you like to come with me?”
“No, I can watch you beg from here. Just stay in the room where I can see you.”
He almost added, “And wear the tarp or whatever the thing is called,” but stopped himself. He stood with his back to the wall and watched her walk away. She turned once and smiled at him. There was the dimple he’d been pretending not to notice since that first smile. He loved women with dimples, no matter where those dimples were.
His cell phone vibrated. He didn’t look at the caller ID before answering.
“Buchanan.”
Noah Clayborne was on the line. “I’m stuck in Seattle.”
“What are you doing there?”
“Eating fish.”
“So you’re not coming to Chicago?”
“Probably not. Where are you? I hear music in the background.”
“I’m at a country club, and you’re hearing a band playing. I’m on duty,” he explained.
“Doing what?”
He sighed and braced himself for the razzing to come. “Bodyguard duty.”
“Huh. I guess that’s better than a suspension. What’d you do wrong?”
“What makes you think I did anything wrong?”
Noah laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve been demoted to bodyguard. You did something wrong, all right.”
“Yeah, I did. I made the lieutenant look bad.”
Noah was nosy as usual. “How’d you do that?”
“I resigned,” he said, and then added, “look, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it over a beer sometime.”
“Yeah, okay. So maybe I’ll see you in Boston. I’ll call to let you know.”
“Wait a minute. I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“It’s kind of an odd thing to ask, but I was just curious…”
“Curious about what?” he asked when Alec hesitated.
“Women.”
“Huh. I sort of thought your father or one of your older brothers would have given you the sex talk, but if you-”
“Very funny,” he snapped. “What I was wondering…”
“Yeah? Spit it out.”
