Sia nodded, incapable of untangling her tongue long enough to respond. And then she wished she’d refused, as he swept his arm around her waist and drew her into the warmth of his body. With barely an inch of space between her chest and his, his thighs brushing against the skirts of her dress, moulding them between her legs, he guided her around the space. She felt it, that need welling within her, pulsing within her chest, creeping up to her throat as if desperate to...to...she honestly couldn’t tell. Sebastian’s hand flexed against the base of her spine as if he were struggling with the same thing—a build-up of electricity that needed to be released.
She let him move her body around the dance floor and she felt as if she were floating, light as a feather, completely at his mercy and it was wondrous. His grip was secure but not tight, powerful yet restrained, and she wanted more. His steps began to slow and she couldn’t resist looking up at him as he looked down at her, the gentle puff of his breath on her lips, the way that his gold-flecked irises retracted to make space for enlarged pupils, his arm around her waist drew her against him just that bit closer and her heart felt as if it might explode. She wanted him to kiss her. So much it hurt. It actually hurt.
And just when she thought he might, just when he’d begun to close the distance between their lips, he paused...
And a round of applause exploded around them like gunfire, shredding the moment just as effectively.
Sia bit her lip against the seesawing of her emotions and thoughts. After all, he had told her his purpose was to gather other guests to dance and she managed a smile at the couples now filling the dance area. So anything she’d thought might have been about to happen? Just in her imagination.
Smiling gamely, she called to Ajay and asked him to dance. Thankfully, the music was much more upbeat and the fun, simple twirls he guided Sia into were easier to manage. Every now and then she’d catch a glimpse of Sebastian at the side of the dance floor, her eyes drawn to him by the feeling of his gaze tracking her every move, but each time she raised her face to his he was facing the person he was talking to. So she cast off the feeling and instead focused on determinedly enjoying herself.
He’d held her in his arms and he shouldn’t have. Because now he knew what that felt like he’d never forget it as long as he lived. It was like holding a live wire. Exhilarating, terrifying, humbling and addictive. She’d been avoiding him ever since the end of the first dance and he knew why. It was much safer for her to think that it had all been for show. It hadn’t, of course. But safer for her to believe that.
Because he was almost one hundred per cent sure that if he got one taste of her it would most definitely not be enough. Gritting his jaw, he told himself firmly that Sia Keating would remain untouched for the next twelve days before he sent her on her way. Perhaps with a quiet word in the ears of a few well-placed people in the art industry. She needed to get away from Bonnaire’s and their sullied reputation.
Ajay was leading a smiling and seemingly happy Sia from the dance area back towards him. He wished he had a camera in that moment. She looked younger, the flush on her cheeks healthy and the shine in her eyes? Just incredible.
‘I declare the evening a roaring success,’ Sebastian said with a tilt of his champagne glass in Ajay’s direction.
‘Yes. The staff—’
‘Guests.’
‘The guests will remember this for a long time, Sebastian. It was a good idea.’
‘I think we should do it once a year, not just for the opening,’ Sebastian said, feeling the rightness of it the moment the words were out of his mouth.
‘For Christmas?’ Sia asked.
‘It’s a big season for us,’ Ajay replied, unsure.
‘March is fairly quiet. And we could get staff from other hotels to cover and, in return, we cover them, which would also allow staff to see how other hotels around the world are run.’
‘See?’ Ajay said, smiling, bumping his shoulder against Sia’s and once again accidentally twisting a knife in Sebastian. ‘He says “we.”’
Sia nodded knowingly and Sebastian couldn’t tell whether he was happy or irritated that they had been talking about him.
There were still a few guests dancing and milling around, but Sebastian was eager to go. He told himself he wanted to find a moment of quiet, away from the music and the hum of conversation around him, but he knew that wasn’t true.
After a few more goodbyes than he’d intended, Sebastian led Sia back to the path away from the guests still partying. It was dark but the walkway’s pale stones shone in the moonlight, leading them safely back to the cabin. He ducked under low-hanging palm leaves and held them out of the way for Sia. But when he didn’t feel her following he turned to find her looking up at the stars, wonder on her face, lost in a private moment he didn’t want to disturb.
‘It’s almost otherworldly, isn’t it?’ she asked, surprising him.
Casting a look up to the velvet sky, the bright stars nestled in the smoky swirl of cosmos, ‘Very different to London?’ he couldn’t help but ask.
‘Just a tad.’
‘Where in London do you live?’ He had been honest with her when he’d said he’d not looked into her or her background. It was almost novel—learning about someone only by what they said and by what he trusted.
‘North. Archway. It’s handy for work.’
‘But?’ he asked, sensing some hesitancy there.
‘I’m a South London girl at heart,’ she said, finally turning her face from the heavens to his, grinning with a strange kind of home town pride. ‘I grew up in Peckham with Mum and Dad and then later, just up the road in Forest Hill with Aunt Eleanor.’
‘Why did you have to live with your aunt? Wasn’t it only your father who was arrested?’
‘It was decided that it would be better for me to live with her.’