‘I’m really sorry, I know I shouldn’t be in here, but I got lost trying to find the...the ladies’ room.’
One ebony brow lifted, but that beautiful face didn’t soften for a moment.
‘I genuinely came in here by mistake, and then when I heard you outside I’m afraid I panicked and hid.’
‘Indeed?’ His fierce gaze didn’t waver. ‘You were lost and yet you didn’t think to ask any of the guards stationed along the corridor for directions?’
‘Guards?’ Lily swallowed, and shot a glance to the suite doors, imagining the fearsome figure from earlier waiting beyond them.
‘Yes, several. Stationed between here and the reception rooms.’
He was still disconcertingly close. Lily watched, fascinated, as a droplet of moisture dripped from his hair to trail in a sinuous pattern down that muscled torso.
She dragged her gaze away. ‘If I’d seen them I would certainly have known not to come in here.’
‘And had they seen you they would have prevented you from doing so, I assure you.’
‘But I saw no one. Perhaps they had slipped away to...to powder their noses, or something?’
The look he bestowed on her was one of pure disdain. ‘They’re all ex-special forces. I doubt they’ve powdered a damn thing in their lives.’
Lily could believe it, but thought it wise not to comment.
Arctic grey eyes bored into her. ‘So you entered these rooms in error. But please, enlighten me, why were you in my house in the first place?’
He was looming again; her five-four frame was no match for his soaring height.
‘For the charity event, of course.’ She injected a little disdain of her own into her voice. ‘Why else would I be here?’
He folded his arms across that broad chest. He must work out a lot. Muscles like that were no simple gift of nature.
‘You weren’t on the guest list and it was invitation-only,’ he said.
Ah, this she was prepared for. ‘A friend was due to attend, but she’s ill. She gave me her ticket. She knew I’d want to come.’
‘I see. You have an interest in the cause?’
‘Of course,’ she lied. Well, she might have if she’d bothered to find out what it was. ‘It’s such a worthy cause and it’s long been close to my heart.’
‘The endangered flora and fauna of the Nabhani marshlands?’ He looked disbelieving. ‘And how long have you supported the charity?’
‘Oh, you know,’ she said, waving a hand through the air, ‘absolutely ages.’
‘Miss Marchant, the charity was officially launched this evening.’
She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing sensible came to mind. Except to curse, despite their perilous state, all the beasts and flowers of the marshes of Nabhan. Wasn’t it a desert country? How could it have marshland?
‘I must have confused it with another charity.’
‘Evidently.’
Her weak smile garnered no response. Evidently it was time she got out of there.
‘Well, it’s been lovely catching up, but I really ought to be going.’
Strong fingers closed about her bare arm. ‘I think not.’
The impact of that skin-on-skin contact arrived at her legs just as she required them to move. She was being marched to the lounge area of the suite.