If Regina hadn’t been on Stu’s arm, Theo wouldn’t have known that the temptress in pale green and the blushing angel of a few nights ago were one and the same. The noise around him dimmed as Theo focused on the ravishing Regina Rose. She’d stripped every bit of black lace off the gown and had used it to create a rose that she’d pinned to the back of the dress, just above the place where her hips swelled. She’d reshaped the low neckline into a more modest heart shape, piped in black satin. Her upswept hair looked soft and shimmery in the flickering light of lanterns and candles. She smiled at something Stu said, and her smile was so sweet and winning that Theo felt an urge to smash his fist into Stu’s face. Once again he was struck by a strong chord of familiarity. He’d met her somewhere before, but where … and when? Theo sensed he wasn’t the only man in the room spellbound by her. After tonight, the gentry would be calling on her, he thought. But he’d be the first in line.
