Free Dancing with the Duke by Suzanna Medeiros Page A

you are here, Alex,” Lucy said
when he reached them. “I wasn’t sure you would come.”
    He was tempted to reply that she had left him
with no choice after involving their mother in her schemes, but he
had to be on his best behavior. He was almost out the door and then
he could enjoy the feel of the fresh air after the stifling
constraints of the filled-to-overflowing ballroom.
    Alex dropped a kiss on his mother’s cheek. “I
was beginning to think you had changed your minds and decided to
leave me here, undefended, against the wolves.”
    His mother laughed. “I’ll never understand
you. Most men would love to have such attention showered on them.
In fact,” she said, gazing about the room, “most of them seem to be
engaged already and enjoying the dancing. The time would have
passed more quickly if you had done the same yourself instead of
standing in a corner, shooting daggers at anyone who looked your
way.”
    He shrugged. This was an argument they’d had
often. “I am not one for dancing.” Bracing himself to face
Charlotte’s blushes and stammers, he turned his attention to her.
“You’re looking lovely, Charlotte,” he said, surprised to find that
he meant it. “It has been a few years.”
    Instead of blushing, however, she smiled. No,
smiling was too tame a word to describe her radiance. She lit up
the room.
    “It has, indeed,” she said. “I am sorry that
your family pressured you into this duty, but I do appreciate your
sacrifice on my behalf.”
    Somehow, he found that he was the one who now
had to be careful not to stammer, but he managed to keep his voice
smooth. “It would never be a sacrifice to dance with you.”
    A set was just starting and he offered her
his arm. It was a strange sensation escorting her to the dance
floor. He’d never partnered with a woman as tall as her.
    When the set began, he was surprised, yet
again, when he discovered that the formerly clumsy adolescent he’d
once known now moved with seemingly effortless grace. It appeared
that Charlotte Grant had finally become comfortable in her own
body. Now that he considered that body as they moved through the
figures of the dance, it held another surprise. Charlotte was a
late bloomer. Her breasts filled out her dress very nicely…
something they hadn’t done when he’d last seen her seven years
before. It was only with great effort that he kept his eyes from
drifting down to examine the creamy expanse of skin exposed by the
low cut of her gown.
    The set was a lively one, and he was glad
that he didn’t have to make polite small talk with Charlotte. Her
emergence from gawky youth to the beautiful woman now facing him
had set him off balance.
    When the dance was over, he took her hand and
bowed over it. She smiled up at him again and he noticed that she
had dimples. He frowned at the errant thought.
    “Is something the matter, Alex?”
    It startled him that she would address him
with such familiarity, but only for a moment. How could he forget
that this beautiful woman was the same girl who’d been friends with
his sister for most of their lives? He may not have seen her for
several years, but Charlotte had always been considered an honorary
member of the family.
    He could hardly tell her what he was
thinking, however, and blurted out the first innocuous thing that
came to mind. “What happened to your freckles?”
    He groaned inwardly as soon as the words
passed his lips, remembering how she’d hated to be teased about her
freckles. Instead of being offended, however, Charlotte laughed and
leaned in close, so he could catch her low words.
    “I’m hoping you won’t tell anyone about
those. I’ve powdered them to make them less noticeable.”
    Her face was very close to his, and at this
distance, he had no difficulty seeing them. They were lighter than
normal, but the fine spray of freckles over her nose and cheeks
were still there. He had to resist the urge to brush a finger
across the small brown flecks.