An Old Enchantment. AMANDA BROWNING
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was Fliss’s and Andy’s night, and she had no intention of spoiling it by a careless remark. Neither, it seemed, did Fliss. Either Lady Ambro had spoken to her in the car, or she had decided to put a brave face on it herself. An onlooker, and there were plenty of those that night, would have said that nothing was wrong.
Afterwards there was dancing, with music supplied by a live band. The newly engaged couple rose at once, followed by Kerr, who graciously swept her mother on to the floor. That left Maxi alone with her father. It saddened her when an uneasy silence settled on them. When she glanced across at him, he was staring down fixedly into his glass of brandy. She decided then and there that the whole situation was ridiculous.
‘It’s all right, Father, you aren’t required to make polite conversation,’ she told him with gentle mockery, because she loved him, and didn’t want to hurt him any more than she already had. He looked up quickly. ‘But if you can bear to listen for a minute, there is something I want to say. Not everything is the way it seems. Sometimes people do wrong things for the best of motives.’
Sir John’s eyes, very much like her own, lanced into her. ‘Are you saying that’s what you did?’ he demanded gruffly.
With a sigh, Maxi reached across the table and placed her hand on his, relieved that he didn’t immediately pull away. ‘I’m saying you might care to think about it. Perhaps even give me the benefit of the doubt instead of condemning me unheard.’
After what seemed aeons, his answer was to ease away from her with another of his speaking grunts. At least, she thought, as the music changed and the dancers returned, he hadn’t walked away. Maxi glanced up to see Andy turning to her, clearly intending to ask her to dance. Before he could do so, though, a large male hand clasped hers and drew her to her feet. Even as a protest was leaving her lips, Kerr had drawn her on to the dance floor and into his arms.
‘Well, really! You might have asked me if I wanted to dance with you,’ she protested rather feebly, because something strange was happening to her insides. She was aware of several things all at once. That the arms which held her were strong yet gentle. That his chest was solid and somehow sheltering. And that her stomach was fluttering nearly as madly as her heart! From a distance she heard Kerr answer, although his breath brushed her ear and sent a tingle down her spine.
‘I wasn’t going to give you the chance to refuse me. Besides, Andy was about to ask you to dance, and I couldn’t be sure you’d say no.’
Instantly her heart settled down into an angry thud and her stomach felt like lead. ‘Thanks a lot!’ He certainly knew how to make a girl feel good!
‘If I was wrong, I apologise,’ he murmured mockingly. ‘Was I?’
She tipped her head up to send him an icy smile. ‘You’ll never know now, will you?’ And neither would she.
For a while they continued to dance in silence. Maxi had to admit that he moved well. Their bodies seemed to fit together as if they had been made just for that purpose, and it was an unconscious action on her part which had her relaxing against him. Her eyes closed, and she began to softly hum along with the music. It was nice being in his arms like this. No, if she was honest with herself, it was more than just nice. It felt right. Which probably meant she’d had just a little too much to drink, she decided mockingly. Either that, or she was going crazy. She didn’t like the man, and the feeling was mutual. So why was it she wasn’t fighting to get out of his arms? Just too tired, she lied to herself, with a wry smile.
‘Comfortable?’ Kerr’s husky voice broke into her thoughts.
‘Very. You have a very nice body. Everything’s in the right place,’ she muttered sleepily, and beneath her cheek, his chest rose as he took a deep breath.
‘Thank you. You have a very nice body too, and every delectable inch of it seems to be in the right place,’ Kerr replied, voice shaking with laughter.
Maxi’s eyes shot open as she suddenly became aware that she had spoken her thoughts out loud. Hot colour washed into her cheeks. Good lord, she couldn’t have... Her head shot up. ‘I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,’ she denied swiftly.
Even in the subdued light, it was possible to see that his grey eyes were dancing. ‘What a pity.’
‘Kerr!’ Alarm raced through her as she realised he was flirting with her, and she had responded with a tingle of excitement. Hastily she pushed herself a little away from him. She wasn’t just crazy, she was insane! It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘consorting with the enemy’. If she had given him the impression she was open to offers, she’d have to squash it immediately. ‘I meant that we seemed to fit together very well,’ she said repressively, before realising that only made it worse. ‘Oh, hell!’
Kerr was openly laughing at her. ‘This is a mighty strange phenomenon. An apparently sophisticated woman tying herself in knots. Why all the lather?’
‘It’s you,’ she charged, feeling an utter fool. ‘You twist all my words round so that I’m afraid to say anything in case you misinterpret it. You must be a whiz in the courtroom,’ she added resentfully.
He pulled her back into his arms. ‘Will it make you feel better if I admit I was surprised to find I enjoy dancing with you, too?’
Her heart jolted. It did and it didn’t. There was something just a little scary in finding there were things about her he liked. She definitely felt safer with a blanket dislike. He was an impossible man! So why was she meekly making herself comfortable again? Was there a streak of insanity in the family? That seemed to be the only answer, because she was also experiencing a strange feeling of déjà vu, as if she had been here before, and that was impossible.
‘Did I see you talking to your father?’
Whether deliberate or not, with his words the mood changed, and she frowned. ‘What a talented man you are. You can dance with my mother and still watch me at the same time!’ Unfortunately, she only managed to sound peevish, and, annoyed at herself, her next bid to move away was more determined. However he was far stronger than her, and she was forced to subside or make a scene.
Kerr clucked his tongue. ‘You have the quickest temper. The dance was already over, and I only asked because of what Bernice said earlier.’
Pulling a face, she looked up, and, quite without her volition, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Damn, I think I’m going to cry.’
With the swift action she was becoming used to, he steered her from the dance-floor and out into the garden. Away from prying eyes, he pressed a pristine handkerchief into her hand. Maxi promptly blew her nose and blinked back the moisture.
‘Sorry about that.’ She gave him a self-conscious smile. ‘I hate causing a scene.’
Standing between her and the building with his hands in his trouser pockets, he raised his brows. ‘That’s a good one.’
She stiffened, aware that she had been foolish to let her guard drop. ‘Don’t start, Kerr. We were getting along fine.’
‘Temporarily. You surely don’t expect it to last,’ he contested.
Expect reasonable behaviour from this man? She wasn’t that foolish. ‘I may be cabbage-looking, but I’m not green. This is just an island of calm in a sea of storms,’ she declared airily.
‘Very poetic.’
‘Don’t sneer, it really doesn’t become you,’ she reproved coolly.
Kerr looked dubious. ‘You’ve become a judge of that, have you, in just a few hours?’
She shrugged. ‘Why not? You judge me.’
‘Ah, but I made my mind up a long time ago,’ he disagreed softly.
That had been made patently obvious. ‘And it would never occur to you to change it?’ She couldn’t hide her bitterness.
Taking his hands from his pockets, he stepped closer to examine her face.