right. Lucky for you I’ve had a margarita or five so I’m good with it.”
The loss of Victoria’s attention was like a break in his air supply.
Jesus. That did it. He either left and went home, and calmed the hell down. Or he went over there and…
Lily slid from Kahu’s lap, the movement blocking his view of Victoria and Raphael. His hands tightened on the arms of his chair in preparation for pushing himself out of it.
Until, without any fanfare at all, Lily pulled down her tutu and stepped out of it.
Connor stilled in shock.
Because she was naked but for her pointe shoes.
Conversations began to fall silent as Lily moved unhurriedly into the clear space in the center of the room. Then, as if she’d been practicing it for months, began to fall in step with the music.
Connor’s body was tight and he realized he was almost sitting up, ready to go and grab her. Cover the lithe muscularity of her naked body with something. Anything. He looked sharply at Kahu, but the other man was sitting back in his chair, completely at ease. He was even smiling as he watched his lovely girl dance naked in front of a whole crowd of strangers.
Christ, he could not be happy with her parading about like that, could he?
But Lily wasn’t looking at anyone other than Kahu. As if there was no one but them in the entire room.
Connor felt his heart constrict. There was something tender about the look Lily and Kahu shared, something intensely private that shut out the room and everyone in it.
For some strange reason, he found himself helplessly glancing back over at Victoria.
To find her looking back at him.
He couldn’t have explained the expression in her eyes. Or the emotion clenched like a fist in his chest. Regret. Sorrow. Pain. A thousand different things. All the emotions he told himself he didn’t feel.
Then she looked back at Lily dancing in the center of the room, her expression smoothing over like a wave smoothing the sand, washing away any signs of disturbance.
But Connor found he couldn’t look away from her, his heartbeat sounding loud in his head.
And as Lily danced, he knew one thing. He wanted Victoria to look at him the way Lily looked at Kahu. As if he was the only person in the room. As if nothing existed for her but him.
He didn’t care what it took, what he had to do to make that happen.
He’d do it.
And then he’d walk away.
Chapter Four
Victoria didn’t dare look at Connor again but she could feel his gaze still on her, precise and focused as if he was aiming a gun and she was his target.
She could almost feel his anger like a physical force pushing at her. It was unnerving and yet exhilarating at the same time, because she’d never gotten a response like this from him before. At least never one this intense. And that thrilled her.
The unnerving part was wondering what he was going to do about it. And he would do something about it, of that she was certain. He’d never been a passive kind of man. Hopefully it would be something along the lines of signing those divorce papers so he wouldn’t have to see her again.
That’s not what you want…
Victoria shook away the insidious thought. It was exactly what she wanted. Exactly .
She kept her gaze on Lily, who was dancing in the middle of the room as if she wasn’t completely naked. A proud, strong, startling sensual figure.
Victoria had felt uncomfortable watching her at first, like she was viewing something she shouldn’t. But Lily hadn’t seemed ashamed of being nude. Or worried about people seeing her. In fact, she almost seemed to encourage it with her high kicks, small leaps and graceful turns. She was smiling too, her small, vivid face bright with pleasure. In fact, if anything it was the glances she exchanged with Kahu that were the most exposing. The deep emotion between the two of them was an almost palpable force.
She’d seen it before between Eleanor and Luc too, and had often wondered if she was missing out on something
The loss of Victoria’s attention was like a break in his air supply.
Jesus. That did it. He either left and went home, and calmed the hell down. Or he went over there and…
Lily slid from Kahu’s lap, the movement blocking his view of Victoria and Raphael. His hands tightened on the arms of his chair in preparation for pushing himself out of it.
Until, without any fanfare at all, Lily pulled down her tutu and stepped out of it.
Connor stilled in shock.
Because she was naked but for her pointe shoes.
Conversations began to fall silent as Lily moved unhurriedly into the clear space in the center of the room. Then, as if she’d been practicing it for months, began to fall in step with the music.
Connor’s body was tight and he realized he was almost sitting up, ready to go and grab her. Cover the lithe muscularity of her naked body with something. Anything. He looked sharply at Kahu, but the other man was sitting back in his chair, completely at ease. He was even smiling as he watched his lovely girl dance naked in front of a whole crowd of strangers.
Christ, he could not be happy with her parading about like that, could he?
But Lily wasn’t looking at anyone other than Kahu. As if there was no one but them in the entire room.
Connor felt his heart constrict. There was something tender about the look Lily and Kahu shared, something intensely private that shut out the room and everyone in it.
For some strange reason, he found himself helplessly glancing back over at Victoria.
To find her looking back at him.
He couldn’t have explained the expression in her eyes. Or the emotion clenched like a fist in his chest. Regret. Sorrow. Pain. A thousand different things. All the emotions he told himself he didn’t feel.
Then she looked back at Lily dancing in the center of the room, her expression smoothing over like a wave smoothing the sand, washing away any signs of disturbance.
But Connor found he couldn’t look away from her, his heartbeat sounding loud in his head.
And as Lily danced, he knew one thing. He wanted Victoria to look at him the way Lily looked at Kahu. As if he was the only person in the room. As if nothing existed for her but him.
He didn’t care what it took, what he had to do to make that happen.
He’d do it.
And then he’d walk away.
Chapter Four
Victoria didn’t dare look at Connor again but she could feel his gaze still on her, precise and focused as if he was aiming a gun and she was his target.
She could almost feel his anger like a physical force pushing at her. It was unnerving and yet exhilarating at the same time, because she’d never gotten a response like this from him before. At least never one this intense. And that thrilled her.
The unnerving part was wondering what he was going to do about it. And he would do something about it, of that she was certain. He’d never been a passive kind of man. Hopefully it would be something along the lines of signing those divorce papers so he wouldn’t have to see her again.
That’s not what you want…
Victoria shook away the insidious thought. It was exactly what she wanted. Exactly .
She kept her gaze on Lily, who was dancing in the middle of the room as if she wasn’t completely naked. A proud, strong, startling sensual figure.
Victoria had felt uncomfortable watching her at first, like she was viewing something she shouldn’t. But Lily hadn’t seemed ashamed of being nude. Or worried about people seeing her. In fact, she almost seemed to encourage it with her high kicks, small leaps and graceful turns. She was smiling too, her small, vivid face bright with pleasure. In fact, if anything it was the glances she exchanged with Kahu that were the most exposing. The deep emotion between the two of them was an almost palpable force.
She’d seen it before between Eleanor and Luc too, and had often wondered if she was missing out on something
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