“Not your fault.”

True. She had been up-front with him. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if there was something in her expression, her tone of voice, or maybe her body language that had transmitted more than a passing interest. Not that she’d cheat on Hargrove. Even if…

She shut those thoughts down.

She’d never cheat on Hargrove. But there was no denying that Royce was an incredibly attractive man. He seemed smart. He had a good sense of humor. If she was the type to get picked up, and if he was the one doing the picking, and if she wasn’t engaged, she might just be interested.

“What?” he prompted, scanning her expression.

“Nothing.” She turned back to her drink. “I’ll understand if you leave.”

He shifted, and his tone went low. “I’ll understand if you ask me to go.”

Her brain told her mouth to form the words, but somehow they didn’t come out. A few beats went by while the bartender served another couple at the end of the bar, a smoky tune vibrated from the ballroom and a group of young women laughed and chatted as they pulled two tables together in the center of the lounge.

“He here?” asked Royce, cutting a glance to the ballroom. “Did you have a fight?”

Amber shook her head. “He’s in Switzerland.”

Royce straightened. “Ahh.”

“What ahh?”

His deep, blue-eyed gaze turned cocky and speculative. “You’re lonely.”

Amber’s mouth worked in silence for an outraged second. “I am not lonely. At least not that way. I’m here with my father.”

“What way, then?”

“What way what?” She stabbed the row of olives up and down in her drink.

“In what way are you lonely?”

Why on earth had she put it that way? What was wrong with her? “I am not lonely at all.”

“Okay.”

“I’m…” She struggled to sort out her feelings.

In a very real way, she was lonely. She couldn’t talk to her parents. She sure as heck couldn’t talk to Hargrove. She couldn’t even talk to her best friend, Katie.