"Is it starting to hurt?" Julian looked concerned.

Her ankle. She hadn't really twisted it, just taken advantage of the fortuitous collision to feign a reason for him to help her.

She stood as though to test it. Julian stood, too. She didn't have to crane her neck to look into his face, something she appreciated. Being with Joe, who'd topped six feet, had always left her with a crick in her neck and shoulders. She liked being able to look Julian in the eye, or nearly so. He had gorgeous eyes. Gray-blue, and darker than she'd expected.

A grin spread across his face like syrup on pancakes. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

Georgie looked over at the buffet, which was groaning under the weight of platters and trays of goodies she'd been denying herself for months. "Hell, yeah."

If her enthusiasm seemed at odds with the sophisticated aura she was intent on projecting, Julian didn't notice. He took her by the elbow, fingertips barely touching her but sending electric sparks of sensation through her just the same. She studied the buffet as though it were far more interesting to her than he was, even though her heart had begun to thump-thump so hard in her chest she was certain he could hear it. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin everything by turning into some sort of gibbering, drooling fan-girl, even if that's what she felt like inside.

He'd said something else, something that clearly required an answer, but so intent was she on memorizing every piece of glitter on his skin, she'd missed it.

"I asked if you liked brie," Julian repeated, as if he were used to dealing with gabbling fan-girls every day.

And, Georgie realized, he probably was.

She didn't know why that thought moved her to straighten her back all at once, except for one thing. She hadn't spent six months working to become a sexpot to throw it all away by being just another drooling, gibbering moron. She was a goddess, a sex kitten, a sophisticate. A self-confident and assured vixen with perfect hair and kick-ass shoes.

"I do." Her smooth tone came out just the right way.

Before she could, Julian grabbed up a plate for her and layered it with a slice of gooey brie oozing from its baked crust and several cream puffs covered in chocolate. He took a plate for himself, added some food and gestured toward the door to the hall.

"Let's go where it's quieter, yeah?"

She followed him into hallway, which was not only quieter, but cooler. Julian held out her plate, and she imagined she saw challenge in his eyes. Georgie took the plate and lifted a cream puff with her fingers.

"Girl after my own heart," he said. "No forks. Eating chocolate. I think I'm half in love with you already."

"That's a nice line." Georgie held up the cream puff and tucked it between her lips. Taste exploded on her tongue and she let out a breathy moan in reflex.

Julian's eyes gleamed again. "I might want to take your shoes out on a date, love ... but tell me, what is it exactly that cream puff is doing to you?"

Georgie laughed and licked the chocolate from her lips. It really was a dance, she thought. And for once, a dance to which she knew all the steps.

"Want to try it out?" She offered the cream puff.