Page 3 of Falling for my Family's Rival

The music starts, and the mystery man whisks me off onto the dance floor. He leads in a way that makes me think that he knows how to dance in real life. My thoughts are so jumbled, that I’m having trouble linking words together in my own head, never mind trying to talk to him. Still, there are so many things that I can feel that I want to tell him about.

“You look beautiful,” the man says, his voice warm and sweet, like honey in the sun.

“You do, too,” I reply. He does, but I’m not sure that’s what I wanted to say.

The music swells around us, and I swear that the rest of the world drops away from us. We dance for what seems like an eternity. But just as suddenly as the moment began, the music comes to an end, and we stop. The noise of the tent comes rushing back, and I realize that we are the only two standing still on the dance floor. I feel like we should move or dance or talk or… something, but I feel like I’m stuck in place, because I don’t want the moment to end.

“Can I get you something to drink?” the man asks me.

His voice brings me back to the present moment. “Oh, yes, sure,” I say, fumbling over my words. “A lemonade?”

Above his mask, I see his eyebrow quirk upward in an unspoken question. I know that they have an open bar, but I don’t drink. I just don’t like the way alcohol tastes. Besides, Chiara is really the drinker in our family. She can name any cocktail that exists. It’s impressive in so many ways, but not really a useful skill.

“I’ve heard that the lemonade from Little Italy is a one-of-a-kind experience,” the man says.

The comment strikes me as odd, but I decide to go with it. “Yeah, I guess it is,”

The man smiles at me, like we’re in on some secret together. My brain is too addled to make much sense of his grin. I should tell him that that’s my family’s restaurant. If he’s heard such good things about it, he might be impressed with my credentials. But for some reason, I hold back. Tonight is supposed to be about anonymity. That’s the purpose of the masks. Besides, I wanted to stay away from my family as much as possible. It’s hard to live in the shadow of success.

“I’ll, um, just wait over there, if you don’t mind,” I say.

“Of course,” he says.

I retreat to the opposite side of the dance floor, as I watch him weave his way through the crowd to the drink table. Violet and Robert have spared no expense on this gala. Their philanthropic work has become pretty legendary in our little town of Cranberry Creek. I’m privileged to be part of their devotion to the community.

“Who is the mystery man?” My friend, Jackie, slides up to me and links her arm through mine. Our other friend, Kaylee, materializes on my other side.

“Yeah, who is he?” Kaylee chimes in.

I have to laugh. Now that all of my friends are married, I feel like they’re living vicariously through me. “I have no idea,” I say. “We haven’t exchanged names yet. It was just one dance.”

“Just one dance?” Jackie scoffs. “We saw the two of you out there. That wasn’t just anything.”

“It was magical,” Kaylee agrees.

Behind my mask, I roll my eyes. But I have to agree with them. It did feel magical when I was out there. The whole night has that air to it. Have I ever experienced something quite like this before? I’m sure I haven’t.

As my mystery man starts back toward me, Kaylee and Jackie scurry off to wherever their spouses are waiting for them. I feel a blast of nerves shoot through me. I want whatever special circumstances have smiled upon me tonight to keep going. I don’t want to break whatever spell I’m under.

“Hey, there,” he says, as he holds out a cup to me, those mesmerizing eyes locking with mine again.

I take the drink, bringing the tart liquid to my lips before taking a sip. I’ve always loved our lemonade, ever since my grandmother taught me how to make it. I could share that story with him, and I bet that he would find it charming. But I keep quiet, because I want to keep that part of my life to myself for now. I want him to like me without all the other stuff attached to me.

“Wow, this is good,” he says with obvious surprise. “It’s different than most lemonades I’ve had. I can’t put my finger on it, though.”

For a split second, I wonder if he knows who I am, and he’s trying to fish for me to make a slip and admit my family link. But when he doesn’t say anything else, I let the thought go. Nothing is going to spoil this night for me. Tomorrow, all of this will feel like a dream, and in reality, it might be. I don’t care if it is. This is the best night of my entire life, and I intend to savor every second of it.

Three

LUCA

Iknow I’m supposed to be scoping out the catering, and yeah, the lemonade is good, but I’m sure Angelo has it covered. All I can seem to focus on is this enchanting woman in front of me. She is everything I have ever hoped to find in another person, and I don’t even know her name. Each time I decide to ask, I get tongue-tied, and the words stick in my throat.

“Do you want to dance again?” I ask.

This feels so out of character for me, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe this is exactly the shake-up that I need in my life. The last woman I dated cheated on me with my so-called best friend. I swore off dating- and my “best friend”- after that, but lately I’ve been feeling more ready to put myself out there again. I don’t know if I’m ready to actually open my heart up again. But this woman somehow makes me feel like I want to try, though.

“How do you know how to waltz?” the woman asks, as we come back onto the dance floor.

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