Page 79 of The Heir's Bargain

I needed to know if it was a fluke—if it was the ale or the lie.

Or if it was something else entirely.

Dani peered beyond my shoulder, toward the crowd behind me. I sensed her debating—analyzing the situation and figuring out the best solution.

"Dani, I need an answer. The song is about to end, and I won't do it unless?—"

"Fine," she spat, cutting me off. "But just?—"

I spun her away, the light fabric flowing up and into the air around her feet, and then I tugged, pulling her back toward me before dipping her low. Her loose curls flew into the air, surrounding me. Her cheeks tinted pink, and large hazel eyes stared up at me.

I gripped her thigh, pulling it up my leg with a devilish smirk.

Then, I kissed her.

With no hesitation.

I kissed her as if this wasn't a fake courtship. As if this wasn't a part of the deal we had made together to get our mothers off our backs.

I kissed her like I meant it.

I kissed her as if she was the only one in the room.

Because, unlike the first time outside the tavern, I hadn't heard anyone in the ballroom question whether Dani and I were together as we were dancing. Because who could have questioned us?

Dani might have thought I was a good actor, but I couldn’t even fake how the blood in my veins sparked every time we touched. I couldn't fake how much my cheeks heated every time she smirked up at me with that glance that suggested that she and I knew something the rest of the world didn't.

I kissed her long and hard because, unlike the first time, I wasn't pretending anymore. And I couldn't stop myself from taking as much of her as I could—before she would inevitably pull away, before the song would end and the next would begin.

I kissed her with the wish that I wanted this to be real, even if she didn't. Even if she was pretending when she kissed me back.

The violin strings dissipated into the air, and clapping echoed in the hall. Yet, my mind was completely silent for once as I peeled myself away from Dani and stared into the forest aflame in her eyes. There were no wayward thoughts, no foreign voices within my mind that weren't my own.

Because when I looked at Dani, with her cheeks flushed and wide eyes, all I saw was her. All I heard was the beating of my own heart—a song filling my veins that I never wanted to stop.

Dani cleared her throat, and I forced myself to right her. Her thigh slid down my leg, my hand sweeping over the silk fabric of her dress, over the curves of her leg.

Then Dani curtsied.

And that small movement alone—a gesture meant to show respect—felt like a slap in the face when she whispered, "Do you think they believed it?"

I cleared my throat, bowing in return. "I think so."

Because how could they not? I had believed it, too.

Chapter 19

DANI

Fynn's laughter cut through the surrounding noise as the actors crashed into one another, their performance bringing tears to the spectators.

"What did I miss?" Terin asked as he came up behind us and wrapped an arm around Fynn's shoulders, knocking Fynn into me.

I took a small side step.

Riley trailed behind Terin, cheeks flushed, but I was too distracted by Terin's question to give it any thought. My eyebrows twisted together as I tried to recall what happened in the performance I hadn't been paying any attention to.

In fact, I hadn't been paying much attention to anything since Fynn kissed me in the middle of the ballroom.

---