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Understanding struck with as much pain and power as a fist to the chin. Finally, her prayers had been answered. Her husband had come back. The painful irony was... In all likelihood, he hadn’t returned forher.
For the first time in years, Shayne acted without thought. Her mask hung from her arm—an elaborate beaded and feathered affair decorated with the tiny bells that announced her slightest movement. It covered most of her face, making it almost impossible to identifyher.
She slipped it over her head, the bells singing a song of urgency. Crossing to the staircase leading to the ballroom, she lifted the wide skirts of her gold dress and descended the steps, searching the crowd for a tall, well-built man, brown hair highlighted with streaks of sun-bleached gold, dressed in a western-cut browntux.
It took her forever to reach the ballroom. Three different people required assistance and she didn’t want to abandon them until their needs were met. Finally she reached the dance floor.
She spotted Chaz almost immediately, standing to one side, calmly scrutinizing the three women who ringed him—adainty blond, awillowy redhead and a sultry brunette. It stopped her dead in her tracks.
What in the world was he up to? Her pulse picked up. He couldn’t be here to find a wife, could he? Slipping close enough to observe, she watched as he swept first one of the women, then another onto the dance floor. He still moved as gracefully as she recalled, his movements sure and powerful.
A man appeared at Shayne’s elbow. “Excuse me, would you care to dance?”
“No, thanks,” she demurred.
“Please?” He smiled with unexpected charm. “Just one?”
What could it hurt? She’d help a guest and it would give her the opportunity to study Chaz without his noticing. “All right.”
“The name’s Sotherland.” He swung her around in an easy circle. “August Sotherland.”
“Hello, Mr. Sotherland. I’m Shayne.”
“So you’re hoping to get married?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
She’d caught him by surprise and his step faltered for a split second. “No?”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, instantly contrite. “My brother and his wife host the Cinderella Ball. I’m simply observing. Iguess I should have explained sooner.”
“A shame.” He recovered with impressive speed. “Well, Iguess a single dance isn’t against the rules, right?”
“Not at all.”
She glanced over his shoulder toward Chaz. The blond and the redhead had disappeared and he now danced with the sultry brunette. She wore a Cleopatra outfit, her skirt so tight Shayne wondered how could move at all. Perhaps that explained why she found it necessary to drape herself over Chaz—so he could drag her around the dance floor without having to do more than shuffle herfeet.
“...but if you were looking for a husband, what would you want him to be like?”
She forced her attention back to August. What should he be like? Her gaze drifted to Chaz once again. “Intelligent. Straightforward. Protective. Honorable.” Her husband had been all those things. At least, when she’d knownhim.
Sotherland grinned. “So far, so good.”
So far, so good? Surely, he didn’t think she’d changed her mind about marrying? No, he hadn’t, she realized in relief. She could see it in the teasing gleam in his eyes.Cute.
She decided to play along. “Oh, but there’s more.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Do tell.”
“If I were considering a husband, he’d have to be tall, broad-shouldered, have brown hair with whitish streaks, and intense blue eyes. Oh! And a tiny chip in his left canine tooth.”
“Darn. Not a chip to be found.” He grinned to proveit.
“Oh, dear.” She gave him a regretful look. “I’m afraid that will never do.”
He shook his head with a soft click of his tongue. “I guess that means we weren’t meant to be.”
“I guess not,” she responded with a sigh of regret.
