SOMETHING WONDERFUL

‘Alexandra,’ he said in a firm, no-nonsense tone, ‘do you need any help undressing?’

‘No!’ came the horrified reply. ‘I – I’ve just finished.’

‘Then come out from behind that screen.’

‘I can’t! Your grandmother’s French seamstress is a madwoman – there are holes in everything she made for me.’

‘Holes?’ Jordan repeated, nonplussed. Reaching for the bottle of wine, he glanced toward the screen. ‘What sort of “holes”?’

She stepped from behind it, and Jordan stared at the indignant expression on her flushed face, then his gaze dropped to the daringly low oval bodice of her shimmering satin nightdress. ‘This nightdress,’ she announced, pointing an accusing finger at her exposed bodice, ‘has a hole cut out of the chest. The blue one has a square hole cut out of the back. The yellow one,’ she finished bitterly, ‘is the worst! It has a hold in the back, another in the front, and the side of the skirt is slashed up to my knees! That Frenchwoman,’ she finished darkly, ‘should not be allowed to hold a pair of scissors.

Jordan gave a shout of laugher, snatched her into his arms, and buried his ace in her fragrant hair, his shoulders rocking.

And in that moment, all the jaded cynicism of his past began to crumble.

‘Oh, Alex,’ he gasped, ‘I can’t believe you’re real!’

Since she wasn’t responsible for the design of these absurd clothes, Alex took no personal offense at his laughter but she warned him in dire voice: ‘You won’t be laughing when you see the rest of what you paid that woman good money for!’

With a superhuman effort, Jordan managed to subdue his mirth long enough to lift his head and gaze tenderly into her upturned, indignant face. ‘Why is that?’

‘Because,’ she informed him darkly, ‘the gowns that don’t have holes cut out of them are so sheer they’re as transparent as windows!’

‘Windo—?’ For the second time, Jordan lost control. His shoulders shaking violently, he swung her up into his arms, captivated again by the sheer joy pf her artlessness and unexpected wit.