The champagne was already flowing from towers of crystal glasses arranged on silver platters. An elaborate ball was rigged to drop, and the countdown was already ticking down on a monitor. Whistles and party favors were piled up on tables skirting the room.
He found Myron and his date on the dance floor and nodded to his friend. Myron had a thick frame and wore a loose yellow panama shirt with a pair of brown slacks. He had tracked Jeremy’s entrance with one lazy eye and nodded at Jeremy over his date’s shoulder.
After a couple of songs, they came over, and Myron introduced him to Verniece. She had a pleasant smile and seemed completely unassuming. Her tall, full figure matched Myron’s thickness, and even her yellow skirt set with French dots blended with Myron’s attire. The two seemed evenly paired.
The three chatted for a while, and then he left the couple to enjoy their evening together, wandering over to the array of cheeses and breads. Nearing midnight he began to get a little disappointed, but he still held out. Safire had been noncommittal, but she at least seemed to consider his invitation. He would give her until half past midnight, maybe even longer, because she seemed well worth the wait.
He recognized her the moment she hit the doorway, and what he saw made his body pulse. She had on a strapless red cocktail dress that hit her midthigh and hugged every delicious curve of her body. Over that she wore a sheer red wrap with a floral burnout pattern. It was almost as long as the dress, but so translucent that it hid nothing of her shapely curves.
When she stepped down into the lounge, he saw that she had on black pumps that showed off her taut calves and supple rear. As she rounded the banister, he walked toward her.
Her face was partially hidden by the peacock mask, but the pretense of anonymity only made her look sexier than ever. Her lips were red and smiling, and she’d piled her hair on top of her head in cascading black curls.
She seemed a little hesitant in a way that made her seem vulnerable, but then she hadn’t seen him as yet, and she didn’t know him.
“Safire?”
“Jeremy?”
He lifted his mask so that she could see his face. “Yes, it’s me. I’m glad that you could make it. When it got close to midnight, I began to worry.”
“I’m glad I made it, too, and with two minutes to spare.” She was looking at the countdown on the monitor.
He took her hand and led her toward the dance floor. He couldn’t help smiling. When they got near the center of the floor, he didn’t let her hand go. Knowing that she wasn’t afraid to get what she wanted, he held her hand within his, playing his fingers over hers. It was sensual and erotic touching the fingers of a masked stranger.
They just looked at each other for several moments, and then the crowd around them started counting down the seconds. That was when he knew he would kiss her.
When the count got to ten everyone joined in, and the chant rose around them. They simply stared at each other through peacock-feathered masks, waiting. Suddenly, the Happy New Year call went up and the ball dropped, accompanied by an explosion of silver confetti and streams of colored balloons.
Jeremy stepped to Safire, put his arms around her and brought his lips to hers. For a moment, they lingered that way, lips poised, close to each other. Then he touched his lips to hers, possessing her and drawing her body against his.
At first she was still, not willing to give in to the moment. But as he continued to move his lips over hers, they softened underneath his, and her hands came up to his shoulders, pressing lightly against him.
He gripped her hips harder and pulled her flush against him, parting her lips. Her mouth opened for him, and he slid his tongue into the sweet wetness of her. Her grip on his shoulders tightened, and her mouth widened, letting him in. She stirred in his embrace, and her arms came up to surround his shoulders and then his neck. Her fingers at his nape sent a quiver through his body and heat into his loins.
Their tongues began to explore, and he was seared by the heat of her body. Her chest heaved against his with each breath, and he wrapped his arms more fully around her.
He had no idea how long they remained locked together, but when he opened his eyes, they were calf-deep in balloons, and the silver confetti in her hair made her look like an angel.
As he looked at her, her cheeks flushed. She took a breath and stepped back from him, straightening her body and dusting the confetti from her shoulders. She looked around them nervously.
“I don’t know what got into me,” she said.
He could see the embarrassment written over her as she continued to pick the confetti from her clothing. It made him smile.
“Happy New Year,” he said.
She smiled and stopped fussing over the confetti.
“Happy New Year to you, too.”
“It’s time for champagne.”
“Oh, none for me. I hadn’t planned to stay, really. I just wanted to come welcome in the New Year and say hello.”
“You can’t leave so soon. You just got here. Give me the first dance of the New Year.”
“I’m sorry. I really should go. I have some work I’d planned to get done tonight.”
Jeremy couldn’t help the disappointment he was starting to feel.
“How about tomorrow? Can we meet for lunch?”
“That would be—” She stopped. “I’m on a tour tomorrow when we stop at Nassau.”
“Have you ever been to the Bahamas?”
“No, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”
“Then you have to go see Nassau,” he said. “My friends and I planned to disembark as well, but just to do some shopping and hit the beach. You enjoy the tour.”
She smiled and turned to go, but he wasn’t giving up that quickly.
“Wait. What about dinner?”
She turned back to him. “That sounds good. Will other singles be there?”
Jeremy hadn’t planned on a group for dinner, but he sensed it would make her more comfortable.
“Yes, we can meet at one of the singles buffets and go from there. I still have your number. I’ll call and leave a message when we figure out which one.”
“That’ll be fine. I’m sorry I have to run.”
Jeremy wanted to take hold of her and kiss her again, even if it was a kiss good-night. But something told him not to go that quickly. He simply smiled at her, and she smiled back before turning toward the door.
After the fire of the kiss, Jeremy had hoped that they would end up in each other’s arms tonight. Instead, he nodded toward Myron on the dance floor and decided to make his way back to the sports bar to find Alistair and Rudy.
He couldn’t wait to see Safire again, to feel her in his arms again. If she wasn’t afraid to get what she wanted, he had to find a way to let her know that he was it. But that would have to wait until tomorrow night.
Chapter 3
Angelina was getting dressed in one of her sister’s cocktail gowns, just as she had the night before. She hadn’t planned to go to a New Year’s Eve party, but when the owner of those warm brown eyes called her, as surprised as she was, she couldn’t resist the possibility of seeing him again, this time up close.
She’d spent most of yesterday on her balcony, reading, leaving only for meals and to wander briefly around one of the decks. That had made it even more exciting to have an invitation to get out