Anni guessed he wasn’t a dancer, even if his narrow waist and taut thighs indicated he was athletic. He was also good-looking. Eyebrows, slightly darker than his golden-brown hair, drew together over a straight nose, while a sensitive, full mouth had a tendency to thin when he became fidgety, and a nerve in his clean-shaven jaw twitched.

Suddenly he looked right at Anni. She could have dropped her gaze, slipped away into the profusion of rose bushes close by, but she didn’t. She had been staring at him because he was such a handsome man and she wasn’t ashamed of it. She stood with the line of a dancer, her spine erect, her chest tightening with her breath as his eyes raked her willowy, supple figure in its halter-style ivory silk jumpsuit. He rested his attention on her face, then her pale blonde silvery hair. Her new hair. But he had no way of knowing she had recently chopped her waist-length hair into a shimmering shoulder-length bell.

He lifted his glass in a salute to her, then he drank, draining every drop. Turning his back on Anni, he placed the glass on a rocky wall and began to stride toward the side of the house that would take him down some steps to a gate that led to the front driveway.

Anni couldn’t let him go. Feeling as if a giant hand was pushing her, she ran across the lawn. The slim heels of her backless cream leather shoes forced her to slow down on the paving stones but she managed to catch up with him at the gate. By now her fingers clasped the stem of her glass so tightly she was sure it would suddenly snap.

Anni didn’t have to say a word. He sensed her behind him and turned around. His blue-gray gaze met hers and she felt a lurch inside her stomach. Mingling with the floral aromas of the hot, sultry night was the scent of sharp masculine cologne. Up close he was taller, and more than merely handsome.

She was breathless because she had been running. Breathless because his aura completely surrounded her. But she managed to say, “Hi. I’ve never seen you at one of Ray Gifford’s parties before.” All her words sounded as if they were spoken during a gust of wind.

“Possibly because I’ve never attended one of Ray Gifford’s parties before.” The man’s voice was deep, authoritative, abrupt. “And I don’t intend to be here much longer.” He rattled his car keys. “Excuse me.”

Her breathlessness didn’t abate. Anni said with obvious panic now, “You’re not leaving?”

One eyebrow rose ever so slightly. “No. I’m merely walking around the house for my health. Yes. I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave until I know your name.” This was imperative information.

He changed his stance to a more relaxed version. “It’s Steve Hunter.”

To Anni’s surprise he tucked his keys into his pocket and then reached politely for her hand. His fingers were warm, firm and very strong. She clung longer than necessary. “I’m Anni Ross. You’re not a dancer?”

He withdrew his hand first, even if it seemed with reluctance. “Lord, no. I’m Ray’s lawyer.”

“Which is why you’re dressed like a corpse in this heat.”

Steve Hunter laughed, his teeth a flash of even white. “I could prove I’m far from a corpse.”

His laughter was contagious. Anni felt the rumble right inside her and smiled herself. She realized now that her presence seemed to have eased his agitation and he might yet retreat from his former bid to leave.

“How would you do that?” She matched his flirtatious manner, even if she did feel as if she were jumping into something headfirst without much thought to the consequences. Yet she had run after him to detain him; she had caused this meeting to happen. If she’d left him alone, he’d be gone by now.

Steve Hunter’s blue gaze almost mirrored her own. Anni felt something deep down respond, something more spiritual than sexual. He reached for the hand that wasn’t holding the glass and pressed her fingers against his chest. Beneath hard muscle his heartbeat was strong and vital.

He said in a low voice. “That’s how.”

Anni’s breathing quickened, a warmth curled inside her. Her tongue flicked over her lips. Then she glanced away, seeing the party crowd surrounding her and Steve like a flash of bright birds in a tropical setting. And she drew her hand away from his.

“Very much alive, wouldn’t you say?” Blue eyes twinkled.

“Very much.”

He chuckled. “Well, then. Now we have established I’m a living, breathing human, we’ll discuss something more objective. How was the tour?”

Feeling as if Steve Hunter had turned her brain to mush, Anni tried to think straight. “How did you know I’d been on tour?”

“Ray told me that was the reason for this party. The tour’s over. The grand finale. The big bash.”

Anni danced her fingers, the ones that had briefly touched Steve Hunter, around the rim of her glass. “Yes, that’s the reason.” These parties after a tour or the finish of any big show were held to unwind. She set herself on high at the start of each long performance and stayed that way until the end. If she burned out in the middle she pushed herself mercilessly. This party, for her, was the ladder down to solid ground. She realized Steve was waiting for her answer. “I was in Europe. It was great. But exhausting. Luckily it’s the last tour for some time. We’re beginning rehearsals for Wedding Bells in two weeks’ time.”

“The rock musical?”

“You know Wedding Bells?” Anni hadn’t expected a lawyer to have heard of the show.

Steve pushed his hands into his pockets and stood back surveying her. “Not intimately. I’ve never seen a performance, but it’s one of those shows, like Phantom of the Opera or Cats, that you can’t help hearing about. I also have to admit that I happen to know Ray has a production coming up. Are you in the dance chorus?”

Anni could barely believe he could be so informed. “It’s great you’ve heard about the show. I’m not in the chorus. I’m performing solo as Selena.”

“Sounds like a starring role. You must be one of the best dancers in the company.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but I try hard.”

He shook his head ruefully. “Oh? I bet that’s an understatement.”

It was. Anni had put her entire life into dancing. She had also spent a great deal of her life explaining her passion and not being understood, so she deliberately changed the subject. “What’s Ray done that he needs a lawyer at his party?”

Steve took the switch with ease. “There were some modifications to his will since his divorce. The papers have been sitting around my office while he was away, and I wanted to deliver them.”

“You handled his divorce from Patty?” Patty Gifford had been one of the artistic directors in the Gifford Dance Company until the divorce. Anni missed her brilliant presence.

“Yes, I handled it.”

Anni saw Steve’s mouth thin the way it had when he’d been fidgety, but she noticed he didn’t seem quite so eager to leave now. “Is that what you do—divorces?” Each question she asked seemed designed to detain him.

“Yes. However, lately I’ve handled a number of messy ones. Ray’s was one of the messiest, with the two kids involved.” His tone matched the thin set of his mouth.

“Ray was a creep. But Lucinda is very nice.” Anni didn’t add but she’s not Patty.

“She must be. Ray told me he wants to get married again. I can’t understand that. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.” Steve grimaced as if he thought the entire situation was distasteful.

“You wouldn’t want to be married, then?”

He spoke with no hesitation. “No way. What about you?”

“Well...” Anni wasn’t sure what to say. She viewed marriage as a union that would restrict her career. But if she was in love, really in love, then...she was much less adamant than Steve. His attitude toward marriage seemed so definite. So black and white.

Steve continued. “All that aside, Ray suggested I drop the papers off tonight. I came straight from the office, which is why I’m dressed like one of the walking dead. If I may return to our original topic of conversation.” He grinned.

Anni returned his grin. “Then work is over for the day and it’s time to party. Relax, let go, chill out, kick back. Get out of your lawyer’s straitjacket.”

He waved in the direction of the driveway. “I did already. I left my jacket in the car.”

Anni let her eyes wander to the smooth, hard flesh molding the material of his shirtsleeves. Remembering the hot, pulsing feel of him, she had to stop herself from reaching out to touch his arm. Instead she flicked her glass high in the air. Champagne spilled on to the pathway in a glistening spray. She felt it might have been her emotions spilling there before him.

He chuckled. “I think you’ve had enough of that bubbly stuff, Anni.”

“You’re right. It’s gone to my head because I never ate dinner.” Even as she spoke, Anni knew it was more than champagne making her giddy. It was Steve Hunter. She’d felt his attraction from afar and come running. Now she actually felt a little bit silly about the way she’d run after him. “Um...the buffet table is on the other side of the pool.”

“Then go have something to eat, Anni.” Steve withdrew his car keys from his pocket.

Seeing the keys once more plunged her stomach into despair. “Aren’t you coming with me?” She heard the anxiousness in her voice and hoped he didn’t. She was likely making a real mess of this meeting. He’d think she was too forward. He might even tell Ray about it and they would have a laugh at her expense. So let him go, Anni. She stepped back from him.

Meanwhile, Steve Hunter took one step forward and placed his hand on the gate latch. He appeared as if he were steeling himself to perform an action he didn’t really want to perform. “I came to deliver papers, not to party.”

“Don’t you know how to party?” Anni said, wondering if she should bother to find more ways to keep him here.

His fingers played with the latch as he gazed thoughtfully at her. “If I’m in the mood.”

“Aren’t you in the mood tonight?” Stop it Anni. Let him go.

He made a face. “Truthfully? Not particularly.”

“You must have had a bad day.”

“I did have a bad day, Anni. Please. Let me go.” The words were forced out of him.

Even though she heard a desperate plea in the way he spoke her name, she couldn’t help the flash of pain that he didn’t feel the same urgent need to be with her tonight as she did with him. And yet her mouth seemed to run away without her brain monitoring her words. “Why not wind down? At least eat. Let’s go find that food. No way should you get into a car and drive after drinking champagne; I saw you drain that glass. I’m not the only one who might be tipsy. Stay a while. Ray probably hoped you would. And I bet you’re hungry.”

Anni saw Steve look at her, that all over thorough glance he’d given her from the patio, and she suspected his escape was more than a mere dislike of parties. He wanted to leave her. Yet she couldn’t believe it was because he didn’t like her; she sensed it was more likely the opposite. So she stood beneath his scrutiny, her heart hammering. She could feel the vibrations, the push and pull from within Steve, the need pulsing through her own body. She might regret this tomorrow, but this evening it seemed right.

Eventually his hand left the gate and cupped her shoulder. Even though his touch was gentle, his flesh burned hers and Anni felt warmth and liquidity glide through her body as he used his hand as a guide. “You’re right. I am hungry,” he said, making her believe he meant much more, and she felt as if she was on a swing, one moment low, one moment high.

He pocketed his keys in a final gesture and they walked across the patio and the lawn, between the dancers to the buffet tables. Occasionally people would call out to Anni and she waved, very aware of Steve’s possession of her shoulder, and even more aware that her fellow dancers would notice the possession and she might never hear the end of it.

Two tables were piled high with food. Slices of smoked salmon, green and pasta salads, roast beef, chicken, warm and raw vegetables, cheeses, breads. The amount of food overwhelmed Anni whose stomach felt full with emotion.

Steve let go of Anni’s shoulder, took her glass, and put it on a tray. Then he handed her a plate, and forced her to fill it.

“Soak up that champagne,” he said. “You look like you live on your nerves.”

She thought she had never met a man she suddenly knew was right, but she didn’t continue into the realm of the problems these feelings entailed. She’d save reality for tomorrow. She enjoyed spinning out of control. It was like dancing when the elements...body and mind...felt together.

“Anni?” Steve pressed.

In jerky tones she said, “I do live on my nerves. I need a break.” The phrase was a common one but her voice held a hint of desperation.

“Will you be getting a break?” He sounded genuinely concerned.

She smoothed the surface of the plate with her fingertips and she saw them quiver. There was a lot behind her impulsive actions tonight. Steve Hunter might be an open door for her to walk through, a means of escape. Although she knew she shouldn’t think that way, couldn’t think that way. She was contractually tied with the Gifford Dance Company until next June. She had a show to rehearse for, perform. Although she had two weeks ahead of her with nothing much happening, she knew what was looming and lately had experienced sudden apprehensions that she might not be able to cope.

“Well,” Steve prodded. “You seem to have drifted into dreamland.”

Anni forced a bright smile. “I was thinking about my break. It’s this weekend and the next two weeks, except for Monday when we’re taping a TV segment. I’m free until the rehearsal begins for Bells. But I still have to keep up my practice, so I’ll go to Ray’s studio a few times.”

Steve was loading his plate with breast of chicken, pasta, and bread. “It doesn’t sound like much of a break to me,” he said.

“But it is. It’s time at home, which I haven’t had for a couple of years.” Anni ate a cracker with cream cheese on top then licked the cheese from her finger. She dished some freshly tossed greens on to her plate. “But that’s how it’s been for me since I was a little kid and first began dancing.” She rarely discussed her dancing with strangers. No one ever understood the time and dedication required, but she was beginning to feel Steve might.

Steve pushed a slice of lean beef onto a spare corner of his plate. “Didn’t you go to school?”

Anni forked a slice of smoked salmon. The pink meaty fish might not have made it to her plate if Steve hadn’t intercepted it.

“Whoops,” he said. “It’s lively. So did you go to school?”

Anni made sure the salmon was safe. “Sure I did. But I danced in all my spare time. I didn’t do the usual things kids do. Or teenagers. Or even twenty-somethings do. You have to, Steve, to get good.”

He laughed at her intensity. “I understand. I admire your tenacity.”

“But you laugh?” Possibly the trend of this conversation was not a good idea. He probably didn’t understand.

“I’m not laughing at what you do, Anni.”

Anni wasn’t sure if she believed him or not. “Well, it was easy because I love dancing. There’s nothing else I’d rather do for a career. Isn’t it that way with you, with law?”

He sobered. “Sometimes. Other times, I’d rather be on my boat.”

“You have a boat? I didn’t think you were a complete office type.” It was a relief to turn the subject from herself. Dancing was so entwined with who she was that she found it difficult to explain. Besides, she wanted to know all about him.

“So you were thinking about me?”

“Yes. Before I talked to you.” Anni felt her breath begin to gather like an electric charge.

“I was thinking about you as well.” He still spoke solemnly.

Anni swallowed hard. “You didn’t mind that I ran to you, then?”

“No. I didn’t mind one bit.”

Anni felt the air between them grow tense. She didn’t know where to go from there so she waved her plate. “Shall we eat this on the benches in the rose garden?”

“Sounds good,” he said, but he left a lingering glance at the table.

“What’s the matter, Steve?”

“Seems like I can’t get anymore on my plate.”

Anni saw food piled on food. She chuckled. “My mother always says, eat that first. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. You’ve got everything there is, Steve. You can always come back for seconds.”

He smiled. “Mothers must think alike. Mine says that as well. Let’s go.”

Anni walked beside Steve, still drawing stares from her dance company. She knew she would have to explain Steve to them and wondered what she would say. For one evening I felt this tremendous attraction to a man and couldn’t stop myself from being with him...

They reached a secluded part of the garden. An iron bench between two trellises cascading with roses beckoned, and they made themselves comfortable beside each other between the scented walls covered with the thorny bowers. Anni wondered if the roses were an omen: beautiful to look at but dangerous to touch. Just like Steve.

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