The poor girl looked at his hand as if he’d offered her a dead fish. After a succession of rapid blinks, she met his gaze. In the light, her eyes shone like the azure waters of the sea.
“I don’t dance.”
He caught his snort of disbelief before it emerged. Surely, men tripped over themselves to claim dances with this enchanting woman.
“Nonsense. I promise I don’t bite.”
Long lashes shielded her eyes as she gave a longing glance toward the wall where another young lady watched them with rapt attention. With an unladylike sigh, she settled her fingers into his outstretched hand.
He guided her onto the dance floor and she set her other hand on his shoulder, her touch light as a feather. “For a moment there, Miss Warstein, I thought you would turn me down before all of Savannah. I’m not sure my pride could have withstood the blow.”
She stiffened and he frowned. He rarely had a hard time charming the ladies, but she seemed immune to his flirting.
The music started and her feet moved in unison with his, and he knew her claim to be false. She danced like a master. A tight-lipped master who stared at his chest as if he were a wall.
Shy, then. Too bad.
“So, Miss Warstein...” He trailed off. What did one converse about with a shy wallflower?
“I heard you captured a pirate ship.” She spoke to his buttons.
“Yes. One less crew of criminals to plague the waters.”
She shivered and he fought the urge to pull her closer. “It must be so frightening to fight them.”
He guided her through a turn. “Not at all, Miss Warstein. You see, pirates are cowards.”
The hand at his shoulder tightened its grip and she missed a step. She glanced up at him then, her eyes swirling with the colors of the sea.
“Surely you jest.”
A smattering of faint freckles lined her nose. He shook his head.
“It’s the truth.”
She returned her gaze to his buttons. “I shall endeavor to rememberthat if I’m ever unfortunate enough to cross paths with one.”
They reached the center of the dance floor and he used the central location to scan the crowd around them. Would she melt into hysterics if he told her that somewhere in this very room, pirates lurked?
Her uncle stood with a group of men and noticed them with raised brows. Henry Warstein owned the biggest shipping company south of New York. Christian tried to remember how the mogul had come to raise his niece. Something about a shipping accident that had claimed her parents’ lives when she was young.
When he finished his perusal of the room, he maneuvered them toward the open doors to the terrace. No unfamiliar faces anywhere. The music drew to a stop and Miss Warstein pulled from his grasp and curtsied.
He offered his elbow and nodded to the door at their side. “Care for a stroll onto the terrace?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she took it and they left the stuffy air of the ballroom behind. At the railing, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He let her loose and looked out over the river twisting below them. A half-moon glistened over the water, where lights twinkled from ships anchored in the bay. One of which was theFalcon.
He’d petitioned President Jefferson for more ships. And Georgia’s governor had recently added his voice to the request. Soon, no more pirates would sail the seas or even walk this land.
When he turned back to Miss Warstein, she was examining him. With a start, she jerked her gaze away. Even in the pale moonlight, the color on her cheeks was visible.
She looked off into the distance. “Thank you for bringing me out here.”
He nodded. “I could tell you were not enjoying yourself inside.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Was it so obvious?”
He shrugged. “To others, probably not. To myself, yes. I’m verygood at reading people. I have to be, to excel at what I do.”
