Chapter 69

Her mouth twisted. 'You have her so enthralled with you that she can't see anyone else, hmm?' she attempted to tease, realizing she was behaving stupidly.

Of course Collins was being friendly with Carmella--the two of them could hardly have sat in silence all evening. But did Collins have to look as if he were enjoying himself as much? a mental tormenter asked, his husky laugh as frequent as Carmella's.

'Of course,' Dan played along. 'It's my beautiful body that does it.'

'Does what, darling?' Unnoticed by either of them, Carmella had strolled over to join them, catching the tail-end of the conversation, her hand caressing on Dan's shoulder, an intimacy he obviously enjoyed, as he smiled up at her with a shared warmth.

Jasmine glanced at Collins, wishing she had the nerve to perform such an intimacy on him, blushing as she found him looking back at her with hooded eyes.

'Keeps women attracted to me,' Dan explained with a grin, drawing Jasmine's atten