Everyone turned toward the petite, beautiful honey-toned woman who crossed the spacious foyer. Her hands were outstretched and the graceful chiffon train of her gown floated behind her. Alex smiled, watching the woman place overexaggerated faux kisses on Topaz’s cheeks.
“Aunt Sophia—”
“Now come on, dear,” Sophia Emerson was already telling her niece. “I have so many people for you to meet.”
“Auntie—”
“Car and Tessia’s nephew came into town today and ...” Topaz grimaced and looked across her shoulder. “Alex?” she called.
Sophia stopped talking and turned as well. When she spotted the devastating tuxedoed stranger standing a few feet away, she gasped and cast a quick glance toward her niece.
Topaz was extending her hand toward Alex and smiled when he accepted it. “Auntie, I’d like you to meet Alexander Rice. Alex, this is my aunt, Sophia Emerson.”
Sophia’s brown eyes roamed Alex’s face and frame with unmasked approval. “Topaz,” she breathed, “I had no idea you were bringing a young man to ... meet the family. What does this mean, if I may ask?”
Topaz shook her head, fixing Alex with a knowing glare. “It means, I wanted you to meet my friend, Auntie.”
“Mmm ...” Sophia returned, though it was clear to her that the feelings between the devastating couple ran deeper than platonic. Deciding not to pressure her niece further, she took Alex by the arm and led him into her exquisite Spanish-styled home. Chatting away, she took less than five minutes to obtain Alex’s vital statistics and other choice bits of information—including how he and Topaz had met and what he thought of her. At last, she nodded and turned toward her brother’s child, who had been following along behind them.
“I like him. Make him happy,” Sophia instructed her niece.
Topaz appeared shocked, watching her aunt glide into the crowd. “That’s never happened,” she breathed.
Alex shrugged. “I suppose I passed the test.”
“No one ever has.”
“Let’s hope it keeps her too occupied to bother with matchmaking.”
Topaz’s expression regained its earlier somberness. “That may not have been such a bad idea after all,” she whispered.
Alex heard her quite clearly. “Let’s dance,” he suggested, his tone brooking no argument.
Topaz dreaded the impending contact, but knew it would be useless to argue. She wanted to melt when he pulled her close, but managed to remain steely.
“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” Alex asked, after he’d held her rigid form close to four minutes.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You’re stiff as a board.”
“It’s better this way. Don’t you think?”
Alex grimaced. “Not better for me,” he admitted.
Topaz felt her lashes flutter. “I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.”
“How could you do that?” he asked, pulling away to look at her.
“I’ve been asking myself that question for the last few nights.”
“Topaz ...” Alex groaned, closing her eyes.
She pressed her hands against his chest and stepped out of his arms. “I need to get some air.”
“How long has she been seeing him?”
“Does it look serious?”
Sophia fielded the questions from her brother and sister-in-law with firm precision. She’d dialed their number shortly after leaving Alex and Topaz in the ballroom. “She claims it’s just one of her friendships, but I could tell ... the way she leaned into him and held his hand ...”
“What about him?” Eric Emerson probed.
Sophia’s lashes fluttered like a young girl’s as she rested one hand across her heart. “Oh, that gorgeous young man is definitely around the bend for Miss Topaz. He looks at her like she’s the only woman in the room. Listen, you two, I need to go now, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“Sophi, wait—”
“Bye, bye ...”
Topaz had ventured out into the flower garden, her favorite place at her aunt’s home. She stood in the middle of the lily field and inhaled the fragrant air. Several minutes had passed when she felt a soft caress against her bare arms. She whirled around, finding Alex just behind her.
She was opening her mouth to speak when he kissed her. His hand cupped the side of her neck as his tongue thrust past her lips with feverish intensity. His free hand squeezed her breast through the beautiful material of her dress.
Topaz gasped and pushed him away. “Women don’t like to be teased either,” she told him.
