In Want of a Wife? by Cathy Williams Page B

conversation, because her tongue had clamped tight to the roof of her mouth.
    It took a few seconds to surface after the song had drawn to its mellow conclusion, and she made a show of instantly pulling back and rearranging her dress.
    ‘There. See? I’ve danced with you.’
    ‘And did you enjoy the experience?’ Louis enquired huskily. Leading question but, whatever she said to the contrary, he knew that she had enjoyed it as much as he had. Hell, he might even have enjoyed it a little too much, if that was possible.
    ‘I like the song. It was one of my father’s favourites. We all grew up with it being played non-stop in the house. I should go and look for Rose.’
    ‘Why? She’s a big girl. She can look after herself. I thought we’d established that already.’
    ‘Yes, well …’ But her feet refused to walk away, and when they finally got into gear it was to follow him out of the room and away from the crowds until they were out in what could be loosely termed the conservatory. It was more akin to an indoor courtyard, in fact, with massive urns from which spilled plants of every variety and a scattering of comfortable chairs, sofas and tables. It was easy to envisage how sumptuous it would be once it was fully renovated and the paintwork and windows repaired.
    Lizzy wondered how she had arrived there. Now they were on their own and somehow a drink had found its way to her hand. She was keeping her distance, hovering by the doorwhile he lounged indolently against the bay window, one hand shoved into his trouser pocket. But even with the distance between them she could still feel her skin tingling in response to his presence.
    ‘Nicholas asked me something rather peculiar yesterday,’ Louis said conversationally.
    ‘What?’
    ‘There’s no need to look so wary. He asked me if I had decided to make a donation to your school.’
    ‘Oh.’ Lizzy cast him a sheepish look. ‘I had to find an excuse to get your address and telephone number.’
    ‘Very creative.’
    ‘Not that my school doesn’t need donations. There’s always something that needs updating, and we don’t have nearly as many computers as we’d like. Private schools have very healthy funds but state schools, well, it’s a completely different story. Some of the classrooms haven’t been painted in, well, years.’ Lizzy knew that she was babbling while he stood there half-smiling, silent, sipping his wine and just looking at her with his head slightly tilted to one side.
    ‘So … maybe I
will
make a donation.’
    ‘You will?’
    ‘Stop hovering by the door as though you’re about to take flight, Lizzy.’
    Lizzy supposed she could do that, considering he was thinking about donating money to her school. Really, they were having a
business
conversation, and as such there was no need to get wound up and tense. She fought back the temptation to take a deep breath and walked towards him, feeling his eyes on her as she closed the gap between them.
    ‘You don’t have to feel obliged to do that because Nicholas is under the impression that you were thinking about it.’ Her voice emerged a little breathless.
    ‘I never feel obliged to do anything because of other peopleand what they might think of me. I have a considerable amount of money set aside for charity work and donations.’
    ‘You do?’
    ‘I know. Difficult to think that there might be a chink in the stereotyped image you have of me, isn’t it?’
    ‘I guess that would be company money, tax deductible stuff …’
    ‘All from my own private income.’ He waited for that to settle in. The mellow light shed from the two imposing lamps in the corners of the room softened the contours of her face, and her huge eyes were like dark wells, fringed with lashes he knew most women would have killed for, had she but known it. But even in a dress that would make most men stop in their tracks and swing around for a second look she was still ingenuously innocent of her own sexuality. She