Socialite's Gamble. Michelle Conder

      And where exactly did you leave your brain tonight, you idiot girl? she berated herself. Because it’s certainly not inside your sorry head.

      As if reading her thoughts, Aidan cut his gaze to hers and then let it drop to her lips. They tingled and she felt the strongest urge to part them.

      Suddenly she felt very much like the meat in an overcooked sandwich as she stood between the two men.

      ‘Maybe it would be best if we all returned indoors,’ she said, knowing it was her job to dispel the sudden hostility that emanated between them.

      Unfortunately neither one of them paid her any attention.

      ‘You’re out of your depth, boy. Just like your father.’

      Cara felt the bite in the air and sucked in a quick breath. She had no idea what the trouble was between the two men but Martin Ellery had just raised the bar if the sudden tension in the man behind her was anything to go by.

      Slowly turning around Cara half expected Aidan to have a knife at the ready but instead he smiled benignly at the man who had clearly tried to insult him. Watching him she wondered if she’d imagined the tension she had, moments ago, felt pulsing out of him. Perhaps it had just been her own.

      ‘Gentlemen—’

      ‘You want to be careful, Kelly.’ Ellery surprised her by putting his hand back on her waist. ‘You might lose more than you bargained for.’

      Oh, no. Cara stiffened in mortification at the thought of what Ellery was about to reveal.

      ‘Stop worrying so much, Martin,’ Aidan said amiably. ‘You’re starting to sound paranoid.’

      Ellery’s hand shook slightly before it tightened on her and Cara did a quick sidestep. If they wanted to butt heads with each other, they didn’t need her around to watch.

      Before she could make her escape, though, Ellery blocked her way. ‘See you at the table, Kelly.’

      ‘I look forward to it,’ Aidan drawled.

      Ellery glared at him on his way past and completely ignored Cara, leaving her standing on the balcony in a pool of coloured lights with a man who threw off enough testosterone to power the Strip for a year at least.

      ‘So, that was interesting?’ she murmured in an attempt to fill the awkward silence.

      ‘Only if you like dirty old men.’

       Okay …

      ‘I don’t know what the problem is between you, but … maybe you should go easy on Mr Ellery,’ Cara felt compelled to say softly. ‘I think he’s really scared of you.’

      Aidan Kelly didn’t move a muscle. ‘He should be.’

      And so should I, she thought a little desperately.

      ‘Do you like dirty old men, Miss Chatsfield?’ he asked mockingly.

      Try as she might Cara couldn’t stop her eyes from taking him in. With his sleeves rolled to his elbows and his formidable shoulders he was possibly the most virile man she had ever seen outside of an action movie. ‘Well, that depends on your definition of old.’ She smiled to try and lighten the atmosphere. ‘But as a general rule I would say not.’

      ‘Then stay away from Ellery. He’s poison.’

      She paused. The late-night breeze teased the hair at her temples and in the distance the rattle of New York–New York’s roller-coaster and requisite screams from the passengers could be heard. She felt flushed even though the night was still cool and her hands had definitely turned clammy.

      ‘Thanks for the warning,’ she said as brightly as she could. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me I’d better get back.’

      Except for some reason she didn’t move.

      ‘What did Ellery want?’ Aidan asked suddenly.

      Cara shook her head. ‘Nothing.’

      ‘Nothing?’ His blue eyes penetrated deep inside her. ‘Are you with him?’

      ‘Am I …’ Cara felt her brows draw together. ‘As in, am I seeing him?’

      He waited and she knew that was exactly what he meant.

      ‘No.’

      ‘Do you want to?’

      ‘Absolutely not!’ Just the thought of it made her feel ill.

      The intense man in front of her shifted his weight and seemed to tower over her even though he hadn’t really moved. ‘Then you shouldn’t smile at him as you have been all night.’

      Cara frowned. ‘I’ve been doing my job.’

      ‘You’ve been giving him come-on signals with that smile of yours that promises unparalleled pleasure.’

      Cara was shocked by his words. If asked, she would have said her smile had no effect on him whatsoever. But now, with his thick lashes shielding his thoughts from her, she felt an unexpected jolt of sexual awareness deep in her body.

      She couldn’t stop her eyes from falling to his enticing mouth, the strong column of his neck. It was impossible not to imagine how his mouth would feel pressed against hers because she’d been doing it all night. She imagined he would taste heavenly. Like his scent.

      He stepped closer to her, and without meaning to, Cara backed against the wall.

      This man didn’t have to smile to promise a night of unparalleled pleasure, she thought, he just had to look at a woman. His confidence and subtle air of power were all the aphrodisiac she would need to have her silently beg for him to take her in his arms, to lower his head and kiss her. To have her feel a yearning ache deep in her pelvis she’d never experienced before.

      ‘My smile doesn’t—’ She stopped when she realised that his eyes were fixed on her mouth. They lingered there before rising to hers, heat radiating from their glittering depths.

      ‘Yeah, it does,’ he said gruffly. ‘And it might get you what you want with a poor, unsuspecting chauffeur, but a man like Ellery will take it as a green light whether you want him to or not.’

      All Cara heard in that statement was the word chauffeur. ‘You know,’ she whispered, completely mortified, ‘don’t you?’

      Aidan stepped into her personal space and she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. ‘What I know is that you’ve been driving me crazy all night. Tell me, Miss Chatsfield.’ His voice had grown rough and Cara’s eyes collided with his. ‘Do you deliver on that sex-kitten reputation of yours or are you an absolute let-down when the glamour is stripped away?’

      Jolted once again, but this time by the harsh note that had entered his tone, Cara thought that her father would say the latter. Definitely the latter.

      Before she could think about how to respond he had stepped closer still. Close enough that she could feel his heat, see the faint trace of stubble forming on his strong jaw. The air grew thick as he studied her, hot prickles of awareness chasing themselves over her cheekbones and down to her lips as if his intense gaze was an actual caress. The inside of her mouth felt like it had never had any moisture in it, and she couldn’t move.

      His head lowered and every cell in her body sharpened to a single point as she waited for his kiss. Waited for his mouth to touch hers. It was the worst feeling in the world and also the best—that heightened anticipation, that feeling of being poised on the edge of a roller-coaster. You know your stomach is going to flip and you might even feel sick but the thrill of it would be worth it. Worth—

      His mouth touched hers. A whisper of contact. Fleeting. Gentle.

      For a second they both stared at each other, wide-eyed, their lips barely an inch apart, their warm breaths mingling, and then he moved, wrapping one hand around her waist and anchoring the other