Out of Mind by Stella Cameron

shook her head. “You’re nice is all.”
    “So are you. Let’s have a little more champagne.”
    He took her glass to the table and came back with refills. Every step he took was smooth, sure. Of course he was a dancer.
    He would do other things well, too. Like kiss.
    “Did you rent this room?” she asked him and giggled. “It’s perfect for parties. All it needs is a dance floor.”
    “This is my suite,” he said. “There are two bedrooms, a small kitchen and several bathrooms. Needing space has always been a problem for me. I don’t like feeling hemmed in. That’s why I insist on the penthouse suite when I cruise.”
    She drank some more, considering what he was saying. He had to have money. “Must be expensive,” she said, then felt silly. Sophisticated women didn’t say things like that, or she thought they didn’t without really knowing. “Are you a wanderer, too? I can imagine you liking to be in new places all the time.” That sounded better.
    “Sometimes. More lately than… Well, yes, I guess I am like that.”
    “Than what?” she said.
    John touched her cheek and she stopped breathing. “I can’t imagine a woman who looks like you being alone. Doesn’t seem right.” He shook his head. “You’ve put me too much at ease. I’m running off at the mouth. I almost said I didn’t want to travel so much when I was married, but that’s in the past.”
    “I’m sorry,” she said. Her head felt a bit muzzy, but in a good way.
    “So am I. Or I was. You get over things. Are you married?”
    “No!” The shock in her tone embarrassed her. “I mean, I wouldn’t be here if I was. I’ve never been married.” She had looked after her mother until she died a year ago. The death had not upset Caroline too much. Mother ruled with a heavy hand and that, together with never having enough money, had beaten Caroline into her shell.
    She almost laughed aloud. Not enough money? Her mother had lived as if there wasn’t any and died nicelyoff, which meant that Caroline finally had a cushion to work with.
    John studied her with his head on one side. “What about your family?”
    “I don’t have one now my mother’s dead.” She shrugged. “I don’t want sympathy because I’m fine with that. I’m ready to move on.”
    “Good,” he said. “Looking at you, I’d say you’re going to find it easy to move on and get what you want. You’re going to be fighting off the people who want to be with you.”
    “Looking at me? What does that mean?”
    “I think you know—you’re gorgeous.” He stood and offered her his hand. When she took it, he pulled her up. “Let me show you the rest of this place. It’s quite something in a Victorian kind of way.”
    The solid beat of her heart seemed faster than usual. Her heel caught again and her foot clicked sideways. “It’s the rug,” she said, frowning. She wasn’t sure she sounded completely sober. Better lay off the champagne.
    “Take off your shoes,” he said, looking concerned. “I don’t want you twisting your ankles before I even get you on a dance floor.”
    She smiled and did as he suggested.
    “You should wear a lot of green. It’s good with your hair and eyes.”
    The years when she should have learned to take compliments had sped away, but it wasn’t too late to start. “Thank you.”
    The kitchen was galley-style and functional. Caroline noted a floral arrangement on the counter. “Flowers in the kitchen,” she said. “Nice.”
    There were flowers all over the suite, expensive arrangements with rich, subtle scents. Flowers stood on a short column just inside the bedroom door and there were more on a table in the window.
    Caroline’s feet sank into white carpet here, and on the bed, a white-covered duvet had been folded down from white sheets and mounds of pillows.
    Draped across the bed, a terry bathrobe gave her the feeling she was in a forbidden place, an intimate place. It wasn’t just a feeling that she was there with the