‘‘We’ve been doing ‘it’ as you call making love several times a day. Aren’t you tired of it yet?’’ he asked.
She laughed. ‘‘No. I’ll never be tired of you touching me or being inside of me.’’
His teasing had backfired, and her words had created images that were damn hard to ignore.
‘‘You’re killing me, darlin’,’’ he said.
‘‘But in a good way.’’
‘‘The best.’’
They smiled at each other. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn’t. Later, he promised himself. Later he would kiss her all over, loving her until they were both—
A flash of light exploded in his face. ‘‘Mr. Colton, how did you meet the princess?’’
Mitch glanced up and saw a reporter standing next to him. The young man motioned for his photographer to get another shot.
‘‘This is a private function,’’ Mitch said, staying calm even though all he wanted to do was shove the punk out of the way. Instead he turned his back on him.
‘‘You’re her escort for the evening,’’ the man persisted. ‘‘Are you more than friends? Is this a romantic relationship?’’
From the corner of his eye he saw several groups of security heading their way. But they weren’t going to get there quickly enough. More flashes popped in his face. Alex ducked her head.
‘‘What do you want to do?’’ Mitch asked softly. ‘‘Should I lead you away?’’
‘‘No. I refuse to run. Just ignore him.’’
‘‘Mr. Colton, don’t you want to clarify your relationship with Princess Alexandra?’’
Mitch turned to the man, who was all of five-seven or five-eight. He could have squashed the guy like a bug. ‘‘You don’t want to know what I want to do, kid, because it would involve a lot of pain for you.’’
The reporter opened his mouth, but before he could ask another question, security arrived and grabbed him and his photographer, then dragged them from the room.
Alex was grinning at him. ‘‘You were so macho,’’ she said. ‘‘You threatened him.’’
‘‘It wasn’t a threat. It was a statement of fact.’’
She laughed. ‘‘Oh, Mitch. There aren’t many men like you, and I think that’s sad.’’
He pulled her close. ‘‘You’re just jealous because I’m the better dancer.’’
‘‘That’s true.’’ She rested her head on his shoulder. ‘‘You do realize that there are going to be more reporters when we leave. Chances are by this time next week, you’re going to see pictures of yourself plastered over the front of tabloids.’’
He hadn’t realized. He hadn’t given the press a moment’s thought. ‘‘Well, hell,’’ he muttered. ‘‘At least my mother will be thrilled. She’s been complaining for years that she doesn’t have a current picture of me.’’
Chapter Fifteen
‘‘I’m almost afraid to ask,’’ Alex said as she settled on the sofa in their suite. ‘‘But what did you think?’’
Mitch slowly loosened his tie and pulled it free of his collar, then sat next to her. He’d removed his tuxedo jacket when they returned back from the party. His shoes had quickly followed. Now he was unfastening the first couple of buttons of his shirt. She hadn’t really thought of the slightly rumpled, not-quite-undressed look as being sexy, but she found herself wanting to reach over and kiss him until they were making love.
Instead, she stayed in her corner of the small couch. For reasons she wasn’t willing to explore right now, she needed to know how he’d survived the evening. Had he hated it so much that he would never want to do it again, or had it been not as awful as he’d first thought?
Mitch angled toward her, then leaned forward and patted her leg. ‘‘I survived. It was different than I’d imagined,’’ he admitted. ‘‘I guess I didn’t let myself think about it too much. It’s not the sort of situation anyone would walk into willingly. You did warn me that I would be ignored for the first part of the evening, then surrounded for the second. You were right.’’
Alex bit back a sigh. She’d been afraid that once the press figured out her escort was a tall, good-looking rancher no one had heard of, the speculation would begin. While their trip from the car to the hotel had been relatively uneventful, their short walk back, at the end of the evening, had been a nightmare of paparazzi and yelled questions.
‘‘Telling me you survived doesn’t exactly answer my question,’’ she said.
