Carolyn stared at him wide-eyed and then glanced around at the loud scrape of chair legs on the wooden floor. Julius was moving their way, his expression tight.
And then the fact that the sound had been audible struck her and brought her gaze around to see that the band had finished their set. The others were putting away their instruments, but Christian was clutching his violin like a bat as he stepped off the stage and strode toward them, his face like thunder.
"Time for you to go," Carolyn whispered in a panic, pulling out of his arms.
"Right," Jack said wryly, but then frowned. "Will you be all right?"
She nodded quickly.
"I'll call you tomorrow to firm up arrangements for dinner then."
Carolyn didn't respond. Jack had already slipped away, moving toward the bar. Which was a relief, except that she was now standing alone on the dance floor with two bulls charging at her. Gees, she thought. Jack had caused this, and she really should have made him stay to face the music rather than sent him on his way.
Christian was the first to reach her. He caught her hand without a word, and dragged her behind him as he walked toward Julius. The two men paused when they met and Carolyn peered around Christian trying to see what was happening. They weren't talking, just staring at each other. When Christian suddenly relaxed, Julius nodded and took his violin, and then Christian was moving forward again, pulling her behind him.
Carolyn stayed silent as he led her from the lounge and around the pool to the main building, mostly because she hadn't a clue what to say. She knew Christian had to act jealous for Julius's sake, but suspected it hadn't all been an act and he was still jealous about Jack. She didn't know what to say, so held her tongue as they got in the van and putted up the hill roads. But when the van cruised right past her villa and took the turnaround to continue on, she glanced around with alarm.
"Why didn't he stop?"
"Because I told him to take us to my villa. We have to talk," he added quietly before she could protest.
Carolyn tried to make out his expression in the darkness.
She couldn't see much, but he sounded very calm, so she sank back in the seat and simply waited.
Christian got out and turned back when the van stopped, but rather than hand her down as she expected, he caught her by the waist and lifted her out, allowing her body to slide down his as he had the first night they'd met.
It caused the exact same havoc in Carolyn and she sucked in a startled breath and held it until her feet were on the ground. She couldn't help thinking though that she hadn't felt that same havoc when Jack had pressed her close.
Damn, Carolyn thought as he released her to turn back and close the door. This just wasn't right. Why couldn't she react like that to Jack? He was straight and a more appropriate partner for her, she thought with self-disgust as Christian caught her hand and led her to the villa.
"Do you want a drink?" he asked as he closed the door behind them.
"Water, please," she answered, thinking she certainly didn't need any more alcohol. Besides, she had a vague recollection of Beth saying water helped prevent hangovers and a headache had started nagging at her as she'd begun to sober up. Perhaps the water would help.
"Go in the living room and I'll get it," Christian said, moving off into the kitchen.
Carolyn moved into the living room, her feet taking her to the glass wall overlooking the side of the mountain.
She stared down at the sea and then reached up to massage her temples wearily.
"Headache?" Christian asked appearing at her side with an open bottle of water and a glass.
"A bit," she acknowledged, taking the bottle, but shaking her head at the glass when he offered it. He moved away to return the glass, and she tipped the bottle to her lips, quickly drinking down half of it. She paused for breath, then did the same again. She heard footsteps approach and recede as she finished off the bottle, and glanced around in time to see Christian slipping back into the kitchen again.
Carolyn turned from the windows to head for the kitchen to dispose of the bottle. Christian had the fridge door open and was pulling out another bottle of water as she entered.
"Where do I-"
Carolyn paused with surprise when Christian suddenly slammed the refrigerator door closed and faced her, his expression almost guilty.
"I was getting you more water," he explained. "I saw you'd finished the first one, so thought I'd get you another."
Carolyn felt her eyebrows rise. For Christian, this was nervous babbling, and then he moved forward and traded the empty bottle for the full one. Tossing the empty in the sink, he ushered her out of the kitchen and back into the living room, which just made her wonder what he didn't want her to see in the fridge. Probably drugs, she thought.
Weren't all musicians into drugs? Christian didn't seem the sort, but who knew? One of the others in the band might use them, she thought, but let the matter go and moved back to the window.
"Is the water helping your headache?" Christian asked.