Page 45 of A Stranger’s Gamble

She started at the sound of his voice and missed a step. He yanked her close and executed a sharp turn around another couple. The crush of her breasts against the hard planes of his chest caught her off guard, and she tried to push away. He lifted her feet from the floor for the remaining seconds of the turn, then deftly set her feet back onto the floor in perfect time to the music. Her heart pounded and she feared she would trip again. Adam held her close, and she gave thanks when she stepped into the rhythm.

“You are an excellent dancer,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” She winced at the shrill demand in her voice.

He lifted a brow. “You are not happy to see me? You did not meet me the other night, as planned. I was worried.”

She forced herself to maintain eye contact. “I am very sorry. My—my mistress was ill.”

“Indeed?” he replied.

Sophie nodded. “Yes. I would have sent you a note, but I don’t know your direction.”

“It was kind of your mistress to allow you to attend the party.” He directed them around another couple, then dodged a second couple who came perilously close.

“She is very kind that way.”

Sophie caught sight of her father talking to another man. If he turned even a little, he would see them. She told herself not to worry. Her father would take Adam to be one of the many men Lady Seafield had arranged for her to dance with tonight.

Still, she wanted very badly to put distance between Adam and herself. He held her scandalously close, and that would not please her father. Another horrifying thought struck. What if Lord Monthemer saw her dancing with Adam? That would chase him away—which was good—but he would likely tell her father why. That, she realized, she could live with much more easily than her father trying to force her to marry the marquess.

Sophie looked up at Adam through her lashes. “You are an uncommonly fine dancer, sir.”

His gaze flicked to her bodice. “As are you.”

She blinked. Had that been desire in his voice?

His hand tightened on the small of her back as he sidestepped another couple, and her abdomen pressed against the hard length she instantly recognized as arousal.

He was trying to seduce her.

She flushed warm and broke eye contact before realizing she’d done so. She had to do something. She was willing to do battle with her father and refuse to marry the marquess—and she would have gladly allowed a passionate kiss between Adam and her. But the man was openly trying to seduce her. That would not do.

Sophie caught sight of a short man standing near the dancefloor, his narrowed gaze on them as they passed, and she wondered if he was the dance partner who should have had the dance Adam had taken. Adam steered them to the left, through the crowd and away from the man.

Adam guided her around two other couples, and before Sophie realized his intent, he twirled her in a circle that made her head spin and blazed a path through the crowd and out onto the balcony. They came to a sudden halt near the stone railing. Cool night air brought a rush of gooseflesh across her warm arms. Half a dozen other couples milled about on the balcony. At least her father couldn’t fault her for being with a man on the balcony when they were surrounded by other people.

“It is quite warm in the ballroom, is it not?” she asked.

“A stroll in the gardens will cool you off sufficiently” he said. “I hear Lady Seafield’s gardens are spectacular.”

A stroll? Under almost any other circumstances, she might have said yes, but she half-feared her thoughts would betray her. If Adam had the slightest notion of her dreams…. Worse, if word reached her father that she had dallied with a man in Lord Monthemer’s employ, her father might try to make good on his threat to marry her to Robert Barrett. Sophie inwardly grimaced. She would run away before she allowed that.

Sophie looked up at Adam. “I really don’t think we should.”

“Do not think.” Adam grasped her arm and nearly pulled her down the steps to the lawn.

“Adam—Mr. MacAlister,” she cried. “Really, my father will—” She broke off.

He looked down at her. “Your father will what?”

“Surely, you understand he would not want me to stroll in the garden with a man?”

“Is your mistress here?”

“Yes,” she replied tentatively.

A couple passed. Though Sophie couldn’t discern their faces in the dim moonlight, she felt certain they were staring as she and Adam passed. They neared a fountain with an angel in the middle. The cold began to work its way through her exposed arms. She shivered.