Page 20 of Promised Vows

As we reached the dance floor, I pulled her close, and we began to move. A woman had never fit like she was tailored for me. “Tell me all your dreams.” I wanted her, unlike anyone I’d ever met before. Her thoughts, her dreams, her wants, her desires. The knight she needed and wanted.

“What?”

“What dreams do you have? Do you want to be a full-time model? Do you want to own your own business? Do you want… What do you want out of life?”

Her mouth opened and shut a few times before she spoke, “Honestly? I’ve been kind of aimless. The modeling thing is fun, but I don’t think it’s something I want to do long-term. Mostly, I love clothes and fashion and that sort of thing.”

“You certainly have a good eye for what works on a woman.” I held her out and gave her a soft whistle before spinning her and pulling her back flush against me.

“You, sir, are a flirt and a smooth talker.”

“One doesn’t stop to smell the roses and leave without appreciating the scent. I’m simply showing my deep gratitude for the flower in my arms.”

Rolling her eyes, she looked away, but I caught the lift of her lips. “Like I said, smooth talker.”

I splayed my hand against her back, and her head snapped back at me. Leaning in, I set my lips against her ear. “There’s nothing to smooth talk, Anna. You are a woman worth wanting.”

“How do I know you aren’t merely saying all this stuff?”

“I guess you’ll have to trust me.”

And at some point, I’d have to trust her with my heart, which was the most unsettling part of this entire venture.

Chapter Nine

ANNA

Stretching awake, I turned over and away from the window as the sun glinted off the glass. Muffled cooing leaked through the thin windowpanes from the nesting pigeon that sat on the windowsill.

I curled into a ball thinking about the day before. It’d been a beautiful wedding, minus the guy crashing it, or that’s what I was told. I didn’t even see what happened. One minute, Ari and I were dancing, the next he was pulling away. He growled that he’d be back and took off. When he returned, he’d been a little on edge. He was still sweet to me, but whoever that guy was, he’d messed with the wrong Grecian god.

Being in the bridal party, that close to Lucas and Claire, listening to them exchange vows and pledge ‘til-death-do-us-part nearly made me turn green. Not with envy, but with disgust that my brother would expect me to do that with a stranger.

The whole situation was mind-bending. One second, I was eating up Ari’s attention, the next I wanted to demand that he stop. I’d never had this sort of…nuclear bomb of attraction and want for a man before. I liked Ari. There was something about that man that made me want to spend rainy days snuggled against him as I ate popcorn and watched The Princess Bride.

My biggest issue was my dating history. If I couldn’t keep a boyfriend, how could I expect to keep a husband? What if, down the road, Ari realized I wasn’t what he wanted? It wouldn’t be that hard to fall in love with him. Not with the way he treated me, which was better than any man, past or present, had ever treated me.

No one, not one man, had ever asked me what my dreams were. The conversations were always about them. Their goals. Their plans. What I wanted was irrelevant. I didn’t get that feeling from Ari. He asked me because he wanted to know me. There’d been something in his voice that was different. He was looking straight at me too. It wasn’t a flippant, impress-me question.

I rolled onto my back, grabbed my pillow, and held it over my face while I screamed. The last thing I needed was the cops called because my across-the-hall neighbor, Mrs. Ledbetter, thought I was being murdered. I’d howled with frustration that night Ari teased me, and she’d peeked her head out with her finger hovering above her phone screen.

A knock came from my door. I popped up, letting my pillow hit the floor. I’d given the doorman the okay on Ari last night when he dropped me off. Maybe…maybe he was thinking about me too. This thought made me deliriously happy.

I hopped out of bed and forced myself to take my time getting to the door. No way was I going to give him the correct impression that I was excited to see him.

My world tilted when I looked through my peephole. I flung the door open. “Papa?” The word rushed out.

My papa was dressed in the same type of suit he’d been in the last time I saw him, dark gray like his eyes, with a solid gray tie. His thinning hair was now close cut and only a shade lighter than his suit. He’d aged well, but there were more lines on his face.

“My Anna.” Only, it came out like Ah-na. Papa was the only one who spoke my name that way. His lips broke into a wide smile. “My love.”

The statement of affection stunned me briefly. “My love?” I stared at him. “Papa, you left. It’s been three years!” It didn’t feel right. Every atom was screaming that this was bad, but the daddy’s girl I used to be squealed at the sight of him.

His expression grew somber. “May I please come inside? I can explain.”

I stood there, debating. How many times had I dreamed this right after he left the country? Opening my door to find him open-armed waiting for me to throw myself at him.

Stepping back, I waved him in, shutting the door once he’d crossed the threshold. “Okay, explain.” I crossed my arms over my chest, sticking close to the door.

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