An Impossible Attraction – Brenda Joyce

From Chapter Two

I am not going to faint, Alexandra thought, horrified. If I faint, there will be more gossip.

But the floor tilted wildly, anyway.

And as she reached wildly out she crashed into a hard male body—and a strong arm went around her. For one moment, there was even more disbelief—because she hadn’t felt such masculinity in almost a decade. Her heart slammed and began hammering, as never before. Hard and muscular, his warmth enveloped her. Breathless, Alexandra looked helplessly up.

And she gazed into the most piercing—and most beautiful–blue eyes she had ever seen.

With utter calm, the man said, “Let me help you to a chair.”

She meant to reply, she really did, but she couldn’t form words. She could only stare at his stunning, handsome face—at those long-lashed eyes, which had turned languid and sensual now, at the straight, patrician line of his well-formed nose, at the curve of his cuttingly high cheekbones. She simply could not breathe. He was devastating and it had been so long since she had been in a man’s arms.

And her body knew it. It tightened, swelled. Her heart slammed again. Desire was a fist through her midsection, robbing her of all air.

And he was staring back at her, intensely. His mouth was full, but chiseled into a hard line, and now, slightly, the corners shifted. But the expression was by no means a smile. “May I escort you to a chair?”

His tone was so seductive that the blow of desire came again. She wet her lips. And as she no longer knew how to flirt, she would not even try—assuming she could find her voice. “You are very kind.”

His mouth eased a bit more. “Many things are said about me, and I do believe that no one has ever called me kind.”

His arm remained around her. Alexandra realized she was, for all intents and purposes, in his embrace. “Then you have detractors, sir.”

He seemed amused—but it was as if he refused to smile. “I have many,” he agreed. “But the truth of the matter is that kindness has nothing to do with rescuing a beautiful woman.”

And as if a young woman, Alexandra blushed.

His brow lifted. “Shall we?” But before she could even nod, he was moving her through the crowd, which parted for them as if on command. And suddenly a red velvet chair was before them. Alexandra was vaguely aware of the whispers in the room, behind them. She couldn’t make out a word, didn’t even try—her racing heartbeat was simply too loud.

“I am reluctant to let you go,” he said softly.

She knew she blushed again. “I am afraid…there is no other choice.”

“There are many choices,” he said as softly. He pressed her toward the chair.
He could have easily released her. Alexandra was certain he held onto her as intimately as he did until the very last moment, when her bottom was securely on the plush seat of the chair. And even then, his large hand was on her waist, and his hard arm remained behind her back. She felt his fingers tighten.

“The pleasure has been mine.”

Read Chapter One→