A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [51]
She felt her heart beating fast and furious in her chest and hoped she didn’t melt in a puddle right at his feet. She couldn’t believe he was actually here. She tried forcing her heart to calm down. But damn, he looked good in his white shirt and a dark gray suit.
A dark gray suit…
She shook her head, trying to get her senses in check. There was no way Griffin was the man who’d purchased the necklace she’d worn. No way. He gave her another smile that sent everything within her spinning out of control. And then he said, “I think you have something for me.”
She swallowed, felt her heart do a triple flip in her chest. “I do?”
“Yes, and you also owe me a drink.” He glanced around and then turned back to her. “But I’d prefer if we share it someplace else.”
She fought saying that he could take her to the ends of the earth and she would go, she was just that into him, and had always been. How many years had she gone to bed and dreamed of him, had married others because she’d known he would always be out of her reach?
Had he just suggested they blow this place and go and have a drink somewhere else? Just the two of them? She drew in a deep breath. Could that be considered a date? The thought of her and Griffin sharing a date was way too much. Every part of her responded to the possibility, even her nipples, pressing hard against her dress. They were feeling sensitive, achy, in need of a man’s lips and tongue. But not any man’s.
“So what do you say, April North?”
Okay, girl, keep your cool. Don’t appear too eager and, whatever you do, please keep the drool from falling. He must never know how you feel about him. How you’ve always felt about him. Besides, he’s still out of your reach. He’s running for mayor one day. The high-society dames will all have cows if you’re ever first lady of Hattersville.
“I assume you’re the person who made the bid,” she said as calmly as she could, trying to sound like she didn’t care one way or the other.
“Yes,” he said, handing her the winning ticket that showed he’d taken care of the bill. “I believe I’m supposed to present this to you.”
She took it and glanced at it for a second before handing him the gift-wrapped box. “And I believe this is yours.”
“Thanks.” He looked up at her. “So are you ready to leave here with me and have that drink? I know a café that’s only a short cab ride from here.”
Knowing how she felt about him, she would be crazy to do it. But then again, knowing how she felt about him, she would be crazy not to do it. Chances were this would never happen again—her participating in an auction and wearing a necklace that he wanted at whatever cost it took him to get it. She wiped the thought from her mind that he would probably give the jewelry to the woman she’d seen him with in New York.
She would dwell on that another day and time.
“Well, what do you say?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Will you share a drink with me elsewhere?”
“Yes.”
“Then by all means, let’s go.” Taking her hand, he led her to the door.
Heat flowed through Griffin’s belly at the feel of April’s hand in his. Leaving the party was an idea that had popped into his head once he’d seen her mingling at the reception, a number of the men gushing in her wake. For some reason he wanted to have her all to himself. And for her to agree had nearly overwhelmed him.
He kept a firm hold on her hand while hailing a cab, and once one had pulled up at the curb and they’d slid onto the backseat, he turned to her and his body almost melted when she gave him a smile. And then he felt it and wondered if she’d felt it, as well. The air they were sharing seemed charged, pulsating with full sexual awareness. As if captured by a hold he couldn’t break, he stared at her, barely breathing while thinking she had to be the most beautiful woman to walk this earth.
It was only when she broke eye contact to glance out the window that he slowly exhaled a deep breath. He didn’t have to wonder what that was all about. He knew. It had been that way that