‘Are you sick?’
‘Only of the company in there.’ Again those eyes grew huge and her hand hovered over her mouth.
Adoni watched, fascinated despite himself, as she blinked and stood straighter, the top of her head reaching the level of his mouth.
‘It must be the champagne,’ she murmured, her hand dropping. ‘Who’d have thought it? I only had two glasses. Would that do it?’ She tilted her head, surveying him owlishly.
‘Do what?’ Adoni repressed a smile.
‘Make me so loqua...’ Her brows knotted in concentration. ‘Talkative. Normally I think before I speak. Always.’
He folded his arms over his chest. ‘It depends how much you usually drink.’
‘I don’t. Tonight was my first taste of champagne.’
‘Then yes, it probably is.’ Diverted as he was, her friends would be looking for her. ‘Isn’t it time you went back?’
She shuddered and clutched his sleeve. ‘No! Not till he’s gone.’ She looked at the controls. ‘Why aren’t we moving?’ She slammed her hand onto the up button. ‘I’m sorry. I hope you want to go up. I’ll go anywhere so long as it’s away from him.’
‘The toad?’
‘Yes! How did you know?’ Her face broke into a wide smile that hit him in the solar plexus. When she smiled he saw something that even the plastered-on make-up couldn’t conceal. ‘Dark and brooding and clever too! I like you, Mr...?’
‘Petrakis. Adoni Petrakis.’
Again those eyes rounded. ‘Adoni?’
He nodded, waiting for the usual gushing excitement. He’d never had trouble attracting women but since he’d built his fortune...
‘As in Adonis?’
‘It’s a Greek name.’
‘Of course it is, but it’s all wrong for you.’ She squinted up at him, her lips pursed in a moue of concentration that looked surprisingly sexy, despite the bright shade of coral lipstick that clashed horribly with her pale skin. ‘You’re no Adonis.’
Adoni stared down at her. He was accustomed to flattery from women, not disappointment.
‘You know who Adonis was?’
She waved a dismissive hand as if he interrupted her thought processes. ‘In Greek mythology he was a gorgeous young man, loved by Aphrodite and later killed by a boar.’ She bit her lip. ‘Or maybe by someone else, I can’t remember. But you’renotan Adonis.’
Adoni couldn’t keep his smile back. Had he ever met a woman who spoke to him like this? Not flattering and eager? ‘Not pretty enough?’
Again that disparaging wave of her hand. ‘No one could call you pretty.’ Her voice rang with certainty. ‘Handsome yes, but in a tough, dangerous sort of way. And those wicked eyebrows.’ She lifted a hand towards his face but stopped short of touching him. ‘More like Ares, god of war. Sexy but hard.’
The doors slid open behind her and she turned while Adoni was still trying to work out if he’d just been insulted or complimented.
‘Oh, this is nice.’ She drifted out of the lift into the foyer of his private suite, peering through the open door to the vast sitting room. ‘Do you think it would be okay for me to stay here for a bit till he’s gone?’
She moved forward, catching her shoe on the hand-knotted rug. Arms windmilling, she swayed till Adoni strode over and caught her upper arm. Her flesh was cool and smooth as silk.
‘Are you sure you only had two glasses of champagne?’
She sagged against him, one hand planted on his chest. ‘Absolutely. But I don’t think I’d better have any more. I feel a little...different.’ She blinked hazily up at him. ‘Doyouthink I’m behaving oddly?’
What he thought was that, beneath the harsh make-up and the unflattering dress, this young woman was surprisingly appealing. And potentially vulnerable.
‘Your friends will be missing you.’