Abby smiled at the woman and then turned back to Luke. ‘You can win just by being here. How cool is that? There are stickers with numbers on them underneath all the chairs in the ballroom. The winning number will be announced at midnight.’
‘Who would you take with you if you won?’ Luke wasn’t sure why he asked but she was looking so longingly at the display he couldn’t stop himself in time.
She gave a self-deprecating laugh. ‘I won’t win. I’ve never won anything in my entire life.’
The doors to the ballroom were finally opened and Abby gasped when the stunning decorations came into view. She clutched Luke’s hand in an excited can-you-believe-this? manner, reminding him of a small child at her first visit to a sweet shop. He had to admit the ballroom was nothing short of amazing. Garlands of fresh spring flowers adorned the room and taller arrangements were positioned either side of the stage, where a live band was playing the welcome theme. The tables were laid with crystal glasses and silver cutlery and there were even more flowers as centrepieces as well as colourful helium balloon trees.
The formal dinner began, and after Luke had exhausted his limited dinner party conversation repertoire he was relieved when the band started playing just as the dessert course was being cleared away. He took Abby’s hand and stood. ‘Would you like to dance?’
Her smile was like a ray of sunshine on a bleak winter’s day. ‘I’d love to.’ She rose from her chair and leaned close to his ear and whispered, ‘By the way, I told everyone you’re an absolutely brilliant dancer.’
Of course you did. Luke mentally rolled his eyes. ‘Let’s hope I don’t disappoint.’
* * *
Abby stepped on to the dance floor with Luke and his arms brought her in close to his body. One of his hands rested on her bare skin where the back of her dress was scooped out low on her spine. Her skin tingled and tightened and her breath all but stopped when his pelvis came into contact with hers, the unmistakable stirring of his body making her heart race as if she’d been running upstairs. Hundreds and hundreds of stairs.
She had been right about him being a brilliant dancer. His body moved in perfect sequence with hers as if they had been training for a dancing competition. Even the train on her dress wasn’t an impediment as he moved her around the dance floor without once stepping on it or allowing anyone else to either.
It had been so long since Abby had danced with anyone. Ever since she’d pretended to be in a relationship she hadn’t been able to attend parties without finding a reasonable excuse for why her fiancé wasn’t with her. It had been far easier not to go. She hadn’t even been out to dinner for the last couple of years unless it was with a girlfriend. Her social life—meagre as it was—had ground to a halt. She’d been trying so hard to fit in, to appear normal, and just ended up feeling abnormal and missing out on all the things other people took for granted. Which was exactly like her childhood had been. Why did that keep happening to her?
Was she doomed to always be on the outside?
But now, with Luke’s arms around her, she realised what she had been missing. It was fun to be out as a couple, to drink and eat together and dance to great music. It was even more fun knowing Luke and she had a secret of their own. That no one suspected they weren’t the real deal. Yay! She had actually pulled it off. She wasn’t going to be shamed and mocked and humiliated after all. But not only that, their conspiracy added a level of intimacy to their relationship that was strangely exciting. Titillating even. Everyone in the ballroom believed them to be madly in love.
Everyone thought they were lovers.
It would be kind of cool if you were the real deal.
Abby blinked away the thought. Why would she want to be actually engaged to Luke? He was only with her tonight under sufferance. He’d even set a strict time limit on it—two hours. Two flipping hours! Which proved he wasn’t her type. He had zero spontaneity. He was stiff and formal and never smiled, and he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. He was a die-hard workaholic. He probably worked in his sleep. If he ever slept.
But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t be lovers for real.
As soon as the thought entered Abby’s head it clung there like a lint ball on a mohair sweater. That kiss was the problem. Luke kissed like a man who knew his way around a woman’s body. He had awakened something in her body, something that wasn’t going to be a good doggy and lie down and go back to sleep.
Luke was currently single and had been for five years. She hadn’t even had a lover and she could hardly take one while she was pretending to be engaged to Mr Perfect.