Antonio.”
“Really? I’m pretty familiar with the city. Where do you live?”
She hesitated again, as if debating whether she wanted him to know that much about her. Then she shrugged and named a neighborhood Grant knew very well. He lifted his brows in surprise. “Small world. I have a good friend who lives in Alamo Heights. We were roommates at UT. His name is Trent Fairchild. You don’t, by chance, know him, do you?”
Something flashed across her features, setting off a warning inside Grant. Too late, he saw the champagne glass slip from her fingers and shatter against the marble floor at their feet.
Clasping a hand to her heart, she stared at the broken flute in horror. “Oh, my God.”
Her face had grown so pale, Grant took her arm to steady her. “What’s wrong? Was it something I said?”
“No. No, it wasn’t that. I-it just…slipped from my fingers. I’m sorry,” she stammered, as if she couldn’t quite believe what had happened. “I’m usually not that clumsy.”
“No problem. It’s just a broken glass. Happens all the time.” He motioned to one of the waiters, who hurried over to clean up the mess. Grant used the opportunity to pull her even farther away from the crowd.
She still looked shaken, and he wondered why such a trivial accident had caused her such concern. “Believe me, that glass will never be missed.”
Her gaze swept the elegant room, and a brief shadow crossed over her features. “I’m sure it won’t. But I am sorry.”
“Accidents happen. So long as it wasn’t the company that made you so nervous.”
“Wh-what?”
Her green gaze seemed so guileless, Grant wondered if she could really be so innocent not to recognize his own clumsy attempts at flirtation. Was he that out of practice?
Or maybe she just wasn’t interested. Maybe it was time to move on. There were a lot of important people at the gathering, and Grant knew he should be working the crowd—as his brother-in-law was undoubtedly doing. As his father would expect both of them to do. But try as he might, Grant couldn’t muster up much enthusiasm for it at the moment.
He didn’t mind talking about the Venezuelan project, which had turned out to be a very profitable venture, but a conversation about his return to the States always led to the inevitable speculation about his exile. And Grant didn’t like thinking about the past. He didn’t like remembering how closely he’d come to losing everything, and all because of a woman.
So why wasn’t he being more cautious now? Why was he hell-bent on pursuing this woman when she so obviously didn’t want to be pursued?
“Perhaps I should leave,” she said, as if reading his mind.
Grant frowned. “Because of a broken glass?” When she shrugged helplessly, he said, “Look, if you feel that badly about it, there’s only one thing you can do.”
Her glance turned wary. “What?”
“Dance with me.”
“Oh, I couldn’t, I mean, I’m really not much of a dancer,” she said in a rush.
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” He took her hand and felt it tremble in his. For some reason, it made her seem vulnerable and sweet. Qualities he’d always vastly underrated, he decided.
“But—”
“No ‘but’s,” he insisted. “I have a feeling that at midnight you’re going to disappear, and I’ll never see you again. At least let me have one dance to remember you by.”
IN HER WILDEST DREAMS, Nina could not have imagined such a strange scenario. When she’d seen Grant Chambers walking across the room toward her, she’d been sure he’d recognized her from the park and was coming to throw her out. Or maybe even have her arrested.
But then she’d seen the admiration in his gray eyes, and realized in a rush of relief that he had no idea who she was. Her makeover had worked, and she’d tried her best not to say or do anything to give herself away. But then he mentioned Trent Fairchild, and her reaction was instinctive. She thought for a moment she might actually pass out.
How ironic that she had come here searching for the truth about her baby only to end up in the arms of a man who was a friend of her worst enemy. Trent Fairchild had sworn he would find a way to make Nina pay for Garrett’s death, and she couldn’t help wondering again if he was somehow connected to Dustin’s disappearance. Sergeant Farrell had cleared him months ago, but Nina had never been quite as certain.
“You’re trembling.” Grant’s deep voice vibrated against her ear. “Are you cold?”
“A little.” She tried to hold herself away from his body, but Grant Chambers would have none of that. He was a man used to getting his own way, and when he pulled her more tightly into his arms, there was little she could do to resist.
“Better?”
No! she wanted to scream, but all she could do was nod and let herself be drawn against him. He was very tall, towering over her in a way that made her feel a little too vulnerable, and he was darkly handsome in a way that would make most women’s knees go weak. But Nina was immune to rich and powerful men. She didn’t trust them. It had been her experience they almost always had a hidden agenda.
The only male she had any interest in at the moment was her son, and she would do whatever she had to in order to find him, even if it meant dancing with Grant Chambers. Even if it meant pretending an interest she didn’t feel. For all Nina knew, her baby could be upstairs at this very moment, and Grant just might be the one person who could lead her to him.
“You lied to me, didn’t you?”
His deep voice was like a caress against her ear. Nina felt her mouth go dry. “What do you mean?”
“You said you weren’t much of a dancer. I knew that couldn’t be true.”
She laughed softly, a breathless release of nerves. “Just because I haven’t stepped on your toes yet doesn’t mean I won’t.”
“I’m not worried.” He smiled down at her again, and Nina felt her breath catch in her throat. He really was a very attractive man. His gray eyes, hooded and sensual, were fringed with thick lashes and shadowed with just enough mystery to make a woman wonder where he’d been and what he’d seen. What he’d done and whom he had done it with.
He didn’t look anything like his sister. Vanessa was blond and fair, and catching a glimpse of her in the crowd, Nina couldn’t help wondering again if she’d made a tragic mistake. Could a black wig, glasses and the right makeup change a person’s appearance so dramatically?
Just look at me, Nina thought. Grant Chambers had stared accusingly into her eyes only a few hours ago, and now here they were dancing.
“What are you so deep in thought about?” he asked her.
“I…was just thinking about your sister.”
“Vanessa? What about her?”
“I heard she’d recently had a baby, but she looks so thin. I was wondering how she got her figure back so quickly.”
“I wasn’t around when she had the baby, but I imagine Vanessa did whatever was necessary. She’s very much a perfectionist.”
Something in his tone made Nina glance up at him. Did he suspect a dark side to his sister, as well? “She’s very beautiful,” Nina murmured. “Does the baby look like her?”
Grant considered the question for a moment. “I’ve never really given it much thought. Vanessa and Clayton are both fair, and what little hair John David has is dark. Come to think of it, I guess he looks a little more like me than he does either one of them.” The notion seemed to please him.
“You