Marion Lennox - The Australian's Bride - Marrying the Millionaire Doctor / Children's Doctor, Meant-to-be Wife / A Bride and Child Worth Waiting For

And this particular variety seemed to be addictive.

Had Alex noticed? The thought made her cringe. It also made her drag her gaze away from Emily to look over her shoulder. To her horror, Alex was a lot closer than the last time she’d seen him.

‘He’s coming over.’ Emily’s stage whisper was delighted. ‘The music’s started. I’ll bet he’s going to ask you to dance.’

It was the last thing Susie needed right now.

Or was it?

With every step he took towards her, she could feel the curl of that overwhelming attraction increase. By the time he was ten feet away, it was hot enough to be melting something deep within her. If she danced with Alex, she would be closer than she’d been to him so far. Dancing involved touching. A lot of touching.

Almost as much touching as…

Oh, help!

Susie didn’t need to consider using the starched napkin as a handkerchief any more. She needed a fan!

The threat of tears was long gone. So was any thought of feeling sorry for herself. Maybe Emily had been right and she needed the distraction that dancing with Alex would provide.

It would be fun. Exciting. A chance to remind herself how much pleasure life had to offer instead of crying in a corner, feeling as if it was all passing her by.

Susie found herself rising to her feet.

Smiling at Alex.

Wordlessly taking his outstretched hand in her response to the invitation to dance.

Letting him lead her, hand in hand, onto the dance floor.

He’d been waiting for this moment for what seemed like for ever.

Alex had spotted Susie the moment she’d arrived for this function. Somewhat to his surprise, the whole room full of people hadn’t stopped enjoying their pre-dinner cocktails and introduction session and turned to stare at her. She certainly looked stunning enough to stop traffic.

Soft waves of golden blonde hair, loose and shining under the artificial lights. A delphinium blue dress that was a perfect match for her eyes and made of some soft, clingy fabric that emphasised every delicious curve of her body. Tiny shoulder straps looked like blue spaghetti and the hem of the dress was uneven. It had pointy bits that hung below her knees, but when she moved it swirled, revealing tantalising glimpses of those long, tanned legs.

He couldn’t get near her, dammit! At first he’d been stuck in an excruciatingly boring conversation with a self-important politician.

‘The cyclone damage was in the millions. Made sure I got out and inspected every bit of it myself. Plenty of photos in the papers to prove that.’

Alex had caught a hint of blue between the black suits surrounding him. He’d put a finger under his bow- tie and loosened it just a little.

‘I saw pictures of what happened to the medical centre here,’ he’d murmured. ‘Devastating.’

‘Nearly destroyed the old bridge and cut the main hospital off from the town and the rest of Australia, for that matter. I’ve made a pledge to the people to get a new bridge built. Have to see if I can get old George on side. His business would go down the drain if the bridge went west.’

The mayor of Crocodile Creek was still wearing his gold medallion, although he’d discarded the rest of his official robes in the wake of the ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches of the afternoon. He seemed to want to repeat his speech, verbatim, to Alex.

‘We might be in the far north and outside the location of what many people consider civilisation, but if you’re unfortunate enough to get sick or injured in these parts, you can be sure of getting the best care that medicine has to offer. Even if it happens when you’re on a tropical island holiday.’

People were starting to move towards their allocated tables. Susie was going with her friends, Mike and Emily and another two couples. It seemed like one of the only tables with an uneven number. Was she here alone? Was she, in fact, single and… available?

Was it too soon to consider taking his jacket off? Did anyone else in this room feel that it was far too warm despite the air-conditioning?

Introductions to his other table companions, George and Sophia Poulos, spelt the end of any chance in the very near future of getting near Susie. Sophia was in transports of delight on discovering his nationality.

‘My boy!’ she cried, reaching up to pat his cheeks. ‘Come. You must sit beside me . Tell me about your village. Your family. You must come to the Athina before you go home. As our guest, of course. Greek food. Greek music. It will be just like home….’

It was alarmingly like home already. Sophia could have been one of his mother’s sisters. Or any woman in his home town. Hellbent on organising his life. Raising his child. Telling him exactly what he should be doing and how he should be feeling.

Well intentioned, of course, but totally suffocating and tiring to control. Claiming independence by moving as far away as he could had been the best thing Alex had ever done. The only way forward.

He could see Sophia now as he led Susie towards the dance floor. The older woman was tugging excitedly on her long-suffering husband’s arm. Pointing in Alex’s direction and talking non-stop. Delivering a verdict, no doubt, on his choice of partner. He could almost hear it. She would lament the fact that Susie was not a ‘nice Greek girl’ but within a breath or two she would be cooing about the beautiful babies that could eventuate.

It was almost enough to take away the pleasure of finally satisfying his desire to touch Susie.

Almost.

As they reached the dance floor, Susie turned and came into his arms. There was a question in her eyes as she looked up and caught his gaze. An expectation. That it was simply curiosity about his ability to dance felt too shallow. The chemistry going on here was far more powerful than that. Alex felt as if he was standing on the edge of an emotional precipice.

Where was the self-control he prided himself on so much in such areas of his life? Sucked into the ether somehow. Non-existent. Gone to the same place as that barrier that should have kept Susie from getting this close. It was too late now. There was no way he could step back.

He didn’t want to. He wanted to dance. To touch this woman and move with her, the music flowing around them. And the moment they started moving, a whole new dimension opened. Susie was either naturally gifted or she had taken more than a few dance classes. The way her body moved was like touching the music he was hearing. As they grew more used to each other, he found it effortless to lead her. To provide the foil to let her interpret the music exactly the way she wanted to. To step and twirl and dip until she was laughing from the sheer joy of it and the hem of her dress was swirling high enough to reveal glimpses of smooth brown thighs.

Dancing was not going to be enough. They could dance until dawn and it still wouldn’t be enough. How soon would this function wind up?

How soon could Alex offer to escort Susie back to her suite?

Why hadn’t it occurred to Susie that Alex would dance as well as everything else he did in his life?

Or how dangerous it had been to accept that invitation?

Dancing was a revelation. It could tell you so much about the person. About their finesse, consideration of others, self-confidence. Even the need to control. It could be an exploration of someone’s personality that could tell you far more than you might consciously recognise.

It was also a potent fuel. Dangerously inflammable. It was probably one of the fastest routes to falling in love ever invented, and Susie was, quite literally, being swept off her feet.

Falling in love with a man who made her feel like no man had ever made her feel.