Femme Fatale by Virginia Kantra, Doranna Durgin, Meredith Fletcher

flashlight away in her small handbag and gathered up her skirt so she could move.
    Leaving the little refuge was trickier than sneaking into it; peeking out from beneath offered only a limited view of what transpired in the room at large. With two of them, it was perhaps inevitable that someone noticed them emerging. Noticed Jason, and as Beth unfolded those long, limber legs of hers, he bent over her in a solicitous motion that allowed him to snag her earring right out of her ear. She opened her mouth for instant protest, but it only took the faintest hiss through his teeth to shush her. As she stood, he gallantly handed her the earring—though not before displaying it to the several people who had turned to stare at them in surprise. “Here it is,” he said,as would a triumphant hero. “Hard to believe it bounced all the way back there.”
    “Yes,” Beth said through slightly gritted teeth. “It is, isn’t it?” She plucked it out of his hand and expertly replaced it in an absent way that made Jason wish he’d been the one to brush her hair aside, to gently touch her ear.
    Maybe that was the reason for what happened next…or maybe Beth was just very, very good at playing a crowd. She turned to him and said, “Thank you, sweetheart,” and if she was still gritting her teeth when their lips met, Jason found no sign of it. Instead he found lips that were warm and pliant, a reality of sensation and emotion. The light, public kiss instantly turned deep and hungry, full of motion and then the light caress of tongue against lip, and then she nibbled—
    Almost desperately, Jason broke away from her. Another move like that and he would have pulled her in close and tight, never mind the crowd and the circumstances and the fact that this woman was more than likely to use his reaction for her own purposes.
    Bear would never let him live this down.
    Bear will never know.
    He became aware of a light smattering of polite applause; he looked away from Beth’s dazed but wary expression and found they had indeed gathered an audience. Rather than deny the moment, he took it with rakish aplomb, offering the room at large a little bow of acknowledgment. When he glanced back at Beth, he saw she’d carefully arranged her shawl to cover both breasts. He stopped his instant impulse to reach for her, to pullher against him and feel the reaction she so casually concealed, and let her feel what she’d raised in him.
    That’s not what this is about.
    It was a tiny voice, a sane little thing, but it hit him like a splash of cold water. Thank goodness. As Beth took a deep breath, she touched a chagrined finger to her lips and said, “Perhaps I’d better go reapply my lipstick.” Playing to the crowd, just as he’d done, and getting a light ripple of laughter for her troubles.
    Something inside him tightened with disappointment. Her creative self, coming through. Dancer… performer.
    Then again, it was just as well. One of them needed to be able to think, and it didn’t look like it was going to be him.

Chapter 5
    B eth couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe it. “Was that necessary?” she snapped at Chandler as she wrapped her borrowed shawl more tightly around herself. Smiling at each other, playing their suddenly assigned roles, they’d made it to the antechamber and now had some privacy. Not enough. With a jerk of her head, she indicated that they should go outside. Chandler grabbed up his jacket from the row of coats, a heavier thing than the oilcloth and more appropriate for a motorbike in the chilly evening, and followed her out.
    The door had barely closed behind them when he said with indignation, “ You did it.”
    She turned on him just long enough to fling a glare his way, then took a quick detour into the landscaping to rescue her sling pack and jacket. “What’re you talking about? I—”
    I did. At least, every bit as much as he had. It had just seemed so natural. Damn it. She emerged from the busheswith