could only see her right hand, because the other one was lost in the folds of the coat pulled so tightly around her. To conceal the bright color of her dress, he decided. She wore no jewelry other than a pair of inexpensive crystal earrings. Once again he wondered what she had been doing there. The tickets had been pricey by any standards. Was she a paid escort?
He didn’t like the idea, but it wouldn’t go away. She didn’t have the hardened, jaded look he would have expected from a professional, but then, what did he know? He’d never had the need to hire a companion.
“Am I in danger of being accosted by an angry husband?”
Those soft lips curved with humor. “Worried?”
“Not particularly,” he replied, affronted. “I was curious.”
He was rewarded by the flash of that dazzling smile again.
“No husband.”
As they moved carefully onto the next set of moving stairs he told himself her situation was really none of his business. He didn’t want or need to be involved in her problem, but her caginess was becoming annoying.
She teetered a bit, shifting her stance carefully as she tugged at the trailing coat. For the first time Roderick noticed the height of the glittery green shoes she wore. He was pretty sure the bold color matched her dress.
“You’re going to break your neck in those things if you aren’t careful,” he warned. The heels were slender needles of stupidity. Why she didn’t simply teeter out of them was beyond his comprehension.
Once again her ready smile flickered to life. “You could be right. They certainly pinch like the devil.”
He suppressed an answering smile and added spunk to her other attributes. “Why don’t you take them off?”
“My feet would get cold,” she said reasonably. “Besides, I’d trip over the hem of this coat. Your lady must be a giant.”
His lips tightened at the reminder of Shereen. If by some chance she had returned to the table and missed him, she would not be in the best of moods when he made it back upstairs. On the other hand, she wouldn’t lack for a partner to take her back out on the dance floor.
“On the contrary,” he told the woman. “Shereen’s the perfect size for a model.”
“Ah, that explains it.”
“Explains what?” he asked, curious despite himself.
She gave him another of those disarming smiles and shook her head without responding.
Sanity belatedly surfaced. He knew nothing about this puff of a woman. She could be running from the police for all he knew.
“You weren’t an invited guest, were you?”
She tipped back her head to regard him, humor glinting in her eyes.
“What gave me away, the lack of diamonds?”
“Among other things.”
“Maybe I find all that flash and dazzle boringly overdone.”
“You’re a woman,” he told her flatly. “Don’t pretend to be so cynical.”
“Chauvinist. I wouldn’t dream of it. You’ve already perfected that role.”
Stunned, he watched her step onto the last leg of the escalator. The heavy coat nearly tripped her this time. Roderick steadied her. She nodded her thanks as a subtle awareness hovered between them. He didn’t want to admit it, but she fascinated him.
“I hope you and your lady weren’t in a terrible hurry to get home. I’d hate to think I delayed you.”
“No. Shereen’s apartment isn’t far from here.”
“That’s good. Thank you, again.”
She wasn’t ignoring him now, but wariness had crept in around the edges of her expression. Roderick released the coat and her arm, unsettled by his reluctance to do so.
“You’re welcome, again. I’ll drive you home.”
He wasn’t sure who was more surprised, the woman, or himself. Shereen was probably fuming by now. Or, he conceded more honestly, still dancing with one of her many conquests. They were with a large, boisterous group of acquaintances after all. Still, he couldn’t drive off and leave her there. He needed to go back up and fetch her. First, he’d have the valet bring his car around so his mystery woman could wait inside safely. Shereen would be furious, of course, but even she would see that they couldn’t just leave her at this hour of the night.
Where was her coat? Still upstairs? He could bring it down with Shereen. But before he could voice these thoughts, the two of them reached the expansive lobby. The woman stepped forward briskly, turned and slid out of the heavy fur. Lifting up on tiptoes, she placed a chaste kiss on his chin.
Once more, she’d caught him unprepared. Roderick wasn’t used to being surprised. Things generally went as he planned them. At least they had until she’d waltzed into his life. As she drew away he realized there was no artificial odor of perfume or other fragrance on her skin.
“Thanks again, hero. I’m not what you think I am, but I did need rescuing. Happy New Year.”
“Wait!”
But she didn’t wait. She dropped the heavy coat and stepped away. Automatically, Roderick caught the fur before it hit the ground. She hurried off without a backward glance, heels clattering against the marbled floor.
Roderick had every intention of pursuing her, but stunned, he found his brain still focused on the absurd bit of material she called a dress. There wasn’t much fabric involved. The high mandarin collar and long sleeves were the garment’s deceptive concession to modesty. The key-hole effect in front was so low she looked in immediate danger of disaster.
And she was built perfectly for disaster. For such a petite woman, she was incredibly full and lush. The bodice snugged her body like a layer of glittery green skin before it flared out from her waist to swirl about slender, well-shaped calves. It appeared she wasn’t wearing a thing under that dress because in back, the fabric was missing clear down to her coccyx.
“I’m not what you think I am.”
He wasn’t sure what he thought she was, but the word stripper boldly came to mind. Certainly that clingy, sparkly material begged to be stripped from her enticing form.
Roderick was irritated to find himself aroused. He curbed the impulse to chase after her and demand answers. The lady was a mass of contradictions. That sweetly innocent smile did not go with that dress.
But the body did.
He muttered a low oath. One hand returned to massage his temple as he watched her step outside. He’d managed to forget his headache while he’d been with her, but now it returned with a vengeance. Beyond the plate-glass windows of the lobby, snow billowed in the wind. It wasn’t merely snowing, it was snowing hard. And all he could think was that there was very little of anything covering all that soft bare skin.
With a curse, he strode after her. He reached the double glass doors just in time to see the bellman shut the door of a taxicab.
Roderick paused. The cab would have a heater. She wouldn’t freeze. Obviously she had somewhere to go—someplace private, no doubt—and he did not want to think about watching her strip away that clingy bit of fabric.
Roderick shook his head at the disquieting train of thought. Who cared what the woman did with her nights? Hooker, stripper, paid companion…there were plenty of lost souls in Washington, D.C.
With a growl, he started back across the concourse to the escalator. He wasn’t sure why he was angry, or why her departure left him feeling so dejected. It made no difference who she was running away from. He had problems of his own, not the least of which was getting Shereen to agree to leave the party before midnight so he could