Free A Bride for Kolovsky by Carol Marinelli Page B

killing her, but Lavinia distracted herself by chatting to Eddie and annoying Zakahr as she did so.
    â€˜I’m working,’ Zakahr snapped as her laughter sailed through the car. ‘We’re all working!’ Lavinia pointed out, winking at Eddie as she did so. ‘Just some of us manage to smile as we do so.’
    She wasn’t so assured a moment later.
    â€˜The press are here.’ Lavinia swallowed as they approached. ‘The restaurant’s usually discreet. How would the press have found…?’
    But quickly Lavinia realized, as she stepped out of the car, that it wasn’t the royals who awaited them that had captured the nation’s interest. It was the man who walked beside her.
    â€˜Oh, God…’ Absolutely Lavinia wasn’t prepared for this—she was used to cameras in a more controlled setting—and the unexpected frenzy that circled them had her spinning momentarily, wondering if she should have foreseen this, if there was a detail she had overlooked in tonight’s preparation.
    â€˜Just walk.’ He sounded completely at ease, and he made it sound easy—except her legs wouldn’t obey his simple command. Then, perhaps realising she was struggling, he offered assistance, put his arm loosely around her, to guide her.
    But as his hand touched her waist the contact almost shot Lavinia into the throng of photographers. She couldfeel his hand on her waist more than she could feel her sore feet!
    â€˜Come on.’ It was twenty-four steps to the restaurant. Lavinia knew because each one took effort. She could smell him, she could feel him, but more than that he was aware of her too.
    She knew that.
    Knew because when they entered the restaurant it was just herself and Zakahr—their guests hadn’t arrived—and it daunted her. The conversation that had flowed so easily was horribly awkward now.
    â€˜They should be here soon.’ Lavinia flashed a smile at a passing waiter, just for something to do. ‘Could I have champagne, please?’ But even as she said it she remembered her own warning. ‘Actually, make that a Diet Co…’ Her voice trailed off, because that didn’t actually go with the dress. ‘Just a sparkling water, please.’ She sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Lucky me!’
    And then she looked across the table and saw him smiling—not grinning, just looking at her and smiling, his dark lips suddenly dangerous, those cold grey eyes warming. And it was attraction—pure, naked attraction—in surely its most potent form. And for the first time in her life she was sampling it.
    She sat there as his eyes roamed her.
    She breathed in, and then she breathed out, and then she couldn’t remember how to any more.
    She could feel a pulse in the side of her neck. She knew his eyes were upon it, and she wanted it to be his mouth.
    â€˜I’ll get you champagne later,’ Zakahr said, and forthe first time with a man Lavinia felt the floor slip beneath her, felt the frantic dash of her feet to find solid ground. Because for the first time with a man Lavinia felt suddenly out of her depth.
    â€˜I’ll stick with water,’ she said. ‘It’s far safer.’
    Thankfully their guests arrived, and Lavinia was more than a little relieved when, after she rose to greet them, the King’s aides subtly moved her further down the table. The men and women were sitting separately, which meant that, without the distraction of Zakahr, Lavinia could concentrate on the Princess.
    Unlike the Queen, Princess Jasmine was veiled, as was the tradition for unmarried women of their small, prosperous land.
    â€˜The women of today know what they want.’ The Queen smiled in the direction of her daughter. ‘Jasmine knows exactly the dress she wants—though it is hard to capture that along with all our traditions. Throughout the marriage service slowly she will be revealed. Then we have