The Russian's Furious Fiancee (2 page)

She was circumspectly glancing around when she saw her father out of the corner of her eye. He had broken away from the group of men he’d been talking with a moment ago and was now slowly approaching their group and pulling along a tall, intimidating man beside him. As circumspectly as possible, she watched the other man carefully, wondering who he was. He was extremely tall with broad shoulders but wasn’t built like a bull dog like so many other tall men she knew. As he moved, his suit jacket slid open slightly and she could see that he had a flat stomach and very long legs. He was at least a head taller than most of the people in the room so he was easy to watch. His eyes were dark, dangerous almost and his strong, square jaw had a slight five o’clock shadow, even though she suspected he’d just shaved prior to arriving at the party.

His tuxedo fit him well, she thought, but what did she care about something like that? She knew how well a well designed dress could hide many flaws, she thought as she unconsciously ran a hand down her left hip. She’d always wanted to lose those last ten pounds but they stubbornly kept to her like glue on a school kid’s fingers.

When her father continued to approach, Eva became nervous. The almost possessive look in the man’s eyes made her very wary and her heart started pounding. She looked away, trying to concentrate on the conversation around her but her eyes strayed once again to the taller man, surprised to find that they’d made so much progress crossing the room.

For some reason she couldn’t understand, she didn’t want to meet this man. He was still halfway across the room and already her heart was pounding and her palms felt damp. How juvenile, she thought with exasperation at her own body’s reaction to a man who was still too far away to be a threat in any kind of way.

Regardless, she didn’t like the look about him, and she could tell that her father was bringing him over to introduce to her. She had to escape, considering that action an urgent mission she suddenly had to make happen.

Someone in another cluster of guests put a hand on her father’s arm, slowing him down slightly. When her father looked away, she smiled to the rest of the group around her and patted the elderly woman’s arm next to her. “Excuse me. I think my mother needs me.” She gracefully stood up and quickly moved in the opposite direction, not bothering to glance back towards her father, just in case that man was still watching her.

She efficiently worked her way around the perimeter of the room, smiling and waving to her parents’ friends and guests, weaving in and out of groups but making sure to look like she was on a mission, which deterred people from stopping her. She made it all the way into the kitchen and was grateful for the reprieve, feeling trapped and frightened simply because her father wanted to introduce her to another man. He did this all the time at these kinds of functions, so what was different about this one? Okay, so he was much more handsome than the others, and definitely taller, more muscular. But that only indicated that he was probably gay, which should have relieved her mind.

But she knew he wasn’t. The man with the intent gaze and amusement lurking on his firm lips was definitely heterosexual. There was too much male interest in his gaze for her to dismiss the man as innocuous. He was dangerous and she was determined to avoid him for the rest of the evening.

Standing by the kitchen door and out of the way of the catering staff, she fanned herself for a few moments and let the sounds from the waiters and waitresses create a bubble around her while she calmed her shaking hands. This was ridiculous, she told herself. The guy was probably married, and her father just was being polite by trying to provide an introduction.

But her father wouldn’t have gone to so much effort to introduce her to a married man. Her father was quite determined to get her married off as soon as he could, frustrated that his single daughter had thwarted all his efforts to rectify this situation prior to now. He wanted her married and stated the intention often enough that Eva knew when the diatribe was coming. Preferably to a nice, reliable Greek man who would help him in business. Eva’s father was old fashioned, believing in arranged marriages and mutually beneficial relationships.

Ugh! Why couldn’t she get that man’s heated gaze out of her mind? The look he gave her that last time had really shaken her. It was what those silly romance novels would describe as “bedroom” eyes. Or knowing, powerful eyes. Eyes that took possession of anything they wanted.

“There you are!” her mother said as she passed through from the opposite door. “Why are you hiding here in the kitchen? We’re about to sit down to dinner and your father has been looking for you for the past ten minutes. He wants to introduce you to someone. Come along, dear,” her mother said and looped her arm through Eva’s, pretending to be the ultimate, loving mother who had a fabulous, close relationship with her daughter. In reality, her mother only needed Eva’s arm to hold her up and walk straight. Her mother wasn’t just tipsy, she was flat out drunk, she realized.

Thankfully, only Eva would notice. And probably her father who would toss out his obligatory disapproving look and then completely ignore his wife for the remainder of the evening. At least her mother knew how to hide her inebriation well enough.

Maybe the start of dinner was a good thing, Eva thought. It would get some food into her mother and dilute some of the alcohol, slow down the inebriation process.

Eva walked her mother to the dining room where the guests were already taking their seats. Eva escorted her mother to the end of the table, then noted she was seated midway down among the guests.

Thankfully, that arrogant man she’d been trying to avoid was on the end nearest her father, so Eva was saved from needing to be polite to him during the meal. As the other guests moved into the dining room, she was careful to glance only at those who would be near her during the meal, meticulously keeping her gaze away from “him”.

When everyone was finally settled, the wait staff came through with the first course and Eva relaxed, sipping her wine and smiling through the conversations. She’d learned early on in life that one really only needed to ask a few pointed questions to dinner guests and they would fill in the silence. The best question to ask was, “How are your children doing?” and that would fill in the next thirty minutes while the person regaled the people nearest about their children’s foibles or accomplishments.

Damon surreptitiously watched Eva from his end of the table, impressed with her social skills while his target worked the people around her. She encouraged them to talk and had most of them laughing although he couldn’t hear what they were saying since he was farther away.

He turned to the people next to him and asked the elderly woman to his right how her grandchildren were doing in school. While the white haired woman talked about her youngest grandchild’s attempts to learn to walk, Damon glanced down the table, considering how long it would take before the lovely woman could organize the wedding. Just watching her, even from a distance, had his body stirring and he knew that he was going to enjoy their wedding night. He acknowledged that he’d made a good choice with this one and made a mental note to thank Joan for a job well done. There were many things about Eva that he already appreciated, including her delightful profile and her lush figure encased in that sapphire gown.

Eva wasn’t stick skinny but was curvaceous in all the right places, a preference he hadn’t realized he wanted until now. He’d watched Eva sneak away earlier and had appreciated the glimpse of her sumptuous hips and long legs, emphasized by the blue dress she was wearing which was both elegant and conservative, a style which he heartily approved. If anyone was going to see his wife, he wanted it to be himself. He definitely didn’t want a wife who displayed her charms for strangers to ogle.

It was good that he was attracted to his fiancée although he knew it wasn’t a prerequisite. He wanted several children so he was relieved that he wouldn’t abhor climbing into bed to procreate with his wife. He hadn’t anticipated giving up his mistresses, but with Eva, he would at least be interested in his wife for a while before finding his next mistress.

Eva forced her eyes to stay within her small range of dinner guests, never letting her eyes stray to the end of the table where that man was seated. She felt his gaze on her several times and was irritated that he could affect her, even from that distance and even when she wasn’t looking at him. She had no intention of meeting him and would ensure that she was able to excuse herself early enough in the evening so that she could avoid all contact with the man after dessert was served.

When all the plates were taken away, she was surprised when her mother announced that coffee and dessert would be served in the living room and on the patio for those who wanted a bit of fresh air. It was such a departure from their normal evening progression, it threw Eva off.

Her eyes automatically shifted down the table and she was startled to find herself looking directly at the man she was desperately trying to avoid. His handsome face, those odd, brown eyes and his large presence all managed to strike something deep and scary inside of her.

When someone stepped across their view, she was able to break the link that seemed to have transfixed her in her seat. With the general exodus from the dining room as cover, Eva quickly stood and walked out, trying to escape those penetrating eyes without being too obvious in her intentions.

As the group filtered out of the dining room, Eva noticed a beautiful dessert table set up by the open doors to the patio, along with coffee and tea service. There was even brandy and other after dinner cocktails available, but Eva’s only goal was to move as far away from the party as possible. She didn’t doubt that her father was still trying to introduce her and she simply didn’t want to deal with that man right now.

It was a gorgeous night and Eva walked slowly towards the patio along with one of the dinner guests who was talking about her latest dog she’d rescued. She had no idea how she’d gotten into this conversation with her mother’s friend, nor was she sure how to extricate herself from the woman’s verbal grasp, but she knew she had to do something quickly or she’d be cornered by either her father or the tall stranger.

Eva handed the woman a cup of aromatic tea and poured one for herself, grateful when an older gentleman arrived and distracted the woman with tales of his own litter of puppies who had recently been born. Eva quickly stepped out onto the patio, balancing her cup of tea in one hand while she pretended to casually stroll along the walkway but she intentionally headed for the shadows, vowing to hide herself from further conversations.

With a pounding heart, she walked deeper and deeper into the shadows and with each step, she was able to relax a bit more. Her goal was a group of chairs sheltered from view by low hanging trees that were off to the right. She knew no one else would be able to find her there because the trees hid the little group of chairs well with their low hanging branches. When she thought she was out of sight, she picked up her speed and aimed directly for her private sanctuary.

She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief and take a seat when a deep voice came out of the darkness, startling her. “I believe your plan to avoid me tonight has finally come to an end,” he said and Eva jumped, her arm shooting forward and the tea splattering onto the ground.

If it weren’t for the stranger’s quick reflexes, which allowed him to reach out and catch the delicate china cup before it too fell to the ground, she would be stepping over shattered porcelain as well as being embarrassed. “Saved,” he said softly and looked down into her moonlit features.

The man she’d been doing so well to avoid, who had made her stomach tighten with nerves and her hands shake, was now standing less than an inch from her, their toes almost touching and his breath warm on her cheek.

“Where did you come from?” she gasped and tried to step back, but the chair she’d been intending to sit down into was right behind her and she almost fell. Again, the man’s quick reflexes saved the night and instead of falling down, she felt herself pulled forward by a strong arm wrapped around her waist, the arm pulling her up against his hard body and Eva gasped, surprised at how strong he was. This wasn’t a man with just a good tailor, she realized. This was a man with a good gym. A well used gym, she noted as her hands reached out to steady herself by placing her hands on his arms, her fingers automatically flexing against the muscles under the expensive tuxedo material.

“I’m fine now,” she said softly and tried to step back, but his arm wouldn’t release her.

“I know you are,” he replied, just as softly.

She waited a tense moment, but when she felt his arm tighten instead of release, she became worried. “Please let me go,” she whispered.

“And if I don’t?” he asked with amusement.

“I’ll….” She couldn’t think of a good enough threat. Or even a lame one that might make him release her. All she wanted was some privacy and his invasion was throwing her off, both physically and mentally.

“Will you scream?” he teased.

She thought about it for a moment but couldn’t think of a better idea. “I might.”

He instantly chuckled. “You won’t.”

She bristled at his confident tone, irritated that he thought he knew her so well when he didn’t even know her name. “How do you know I won’t? You don’t even know me.”

She saw those gorgeous lips smile in the dappled moonlight and shivered slightly, her mind instantly wondering what it would be like to be kissed by this man.

“I’ve been watching you, Eva. You’re a very beautiful woman and I think we’ll work out well together.”

His hand slid down her back, and she was startled when she felt his hand stray ever so slightly to her bottom before moving away.

She hated the heat that surged through her with his touch, thinking she should be offended instead of excited. She was, actually, but the heat was stronger and she reacted instinctively, lashing out at the threat in the only way she knew how. With anger. “Don’t do that!” she snapped, and took her empty cup of tea and sat down. “I believe you’re expected at the party.”