Page 71 of Flynn

“Attraction?” She lifted one tapered brow.

“Believe it or not, I loved you.”

Before she could respond, she saw him look up and knew who was behind her. The scent of his cologne was in her nostrils.

“Everything okay here?” His arm slid around her waist as he brought her up against him. Lifting her head to stare at him, she felt a jolt in the light sizzling in his amber eyes and felt the tension in his long fingers.

“Glen was just-”

“Leaving?” The steely inflection in his deep voice was a warning that was instantly received.

“Yes.” Glen nodded, tugging at the lapels of his jacket. “It was good to see you, Ry.” He retreated with a hasty nod in Flynn’s direction, leaving them in silence.

“We were just talking.” She muttered when the charged silence stretched out even more.

“Shall we dance?” His impersonal but polite voice sent warning bells clanging inside her mind.

“What?”

Without a word, he took her hand and guided her through the throng of people already on the dance floor. It was an annual spring benefit geared toward making money for homeless veterans, and his mother and company were heavily involved.

His hands clamped around her waist as they started moving to the beat of the live band's classical music. Her hands rested on their chest, where she could feel the steady beating of his heart. He was so tall, she thought whimsically and so manly.

And he was mad. She knew him enough to realize that. He was tense, and a tautness to his jaw warned her of his displeasure.

“Please say something.” She whispered.

He had been staring over her head since they started dancing; now he dropped his chin and speared her with his intense amber eyes.

“What do you want me to say?”

“It was just a conversation. He wanted to apologize.”

“Do you still have feelings for this bastard?”

“What? No.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I was with him-”

“You were engaged to him, and it just occurred to me that I never asked if there were any residual feelings. I spoke about my ex, but what you said about yours could fit into a small paragraph, if so much.”

“This thing between us happened so quickly.”

His eyes narrowed dangerously. “‘This thing’? Is that what it is?”

“You are twisting my words.”

“There are your words, Ryleigh. He calls you Ry,” he murmured as if it had just occurred to him.

“That’s what he calls me. It’s a shortened version of my-” Her voice trailed off at the blazing fury on his face.

The music ended just then, and he led her off to the dance floor without saying anything. “You should stay off your feet for now. I am just going to round up a meeting I was having.” He took his leave by ushering her into a comfortable-looking chair in the corner of the room.

Sighing dejectedly, she stretched her legs and turned her ankles to ease the kinks. All around her, people were eddying; conversations muted, and the clink of glasses vying with laughter and merriment. The room was tastefully decorated, and she had heard that the hotel had been designed by her fiancé when he had just started.

He had a grand taste, she thought proudly. ‘A man of acute vision’ was quoted by one admiring reporter. And he was. Lifting her head, she tracked where he was and saw him surrounded by men who looked eager to hear what he had to say.

“He is quite something.”

Whipping her head around, she realized that Rosalyn had joined her.