Page 124 of Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast

Though I reallyreallywanted to hear what he might say.

“Then pretend I’m holding your hand. Or, I’d place a kiss on the back of your hand before we entered this thing. Because now that I’ve allowed myself to be honest with you, it feels wrong to do anything else.”

I gaped at him, completely lost for words.

“That is way better than handholding,” I said with a little breath.

His resulting smile scrambled my thoughts. I had to remind myself to put one foot in front of the other, to look straight ahead instead of at him.

“Once this is all over,” he said softly, his steps slowing, “I’m going to take every chance I can to remind you of what you mean to me.”

I quivered. I stopped moving.

Duncan peered back and noticed I wasn’t with him. Shaking his head he strode back the few steps to meet me where I’d stopped.

“Everything okay?”

I met his brooding glance. “I thought I told you not to whisper in my ear.”

His lips fought that little smile. “Sorry,” he said. And then I heard him add to himself, “Only not.”

By the time we rounded the end of the long corridor, I was bubbling, fizzing, and somehow float-walking rather than just plain walking.

He couldn’t do that to me. Not if we wanted to keep our feelings on the down low.

To the left, glass doors offered an enticing view of forest paths, looming trees, and metal artwork too grand to be kept indoors. To the right, an event room offered a sweeping view of the pond we’d seen along the corridor. Colorful bulbs of blown glass bobbed here and there in the water, and vines dripped down the concrete’s sides.

The soft strains of a piano ghosted from the room’s opening. Men and women in elegant dress clustered within, smiling, laughing, and holding drinks in their hands. Duncan’s hand that wasn’t holding the hat box fisted at his side.

“It will be okay,” I whispered.

His eyes were guarded as though he wasn’t so sure. “I’ll drop the gift off. Say our well wishes. Then we bolt. The flight is set,” he added.

“Good job, boss.”

He smirked at me, and we walked farther into the party.

The room’s glass windows made it feel as though we were celebrating outdoors without being outside. We wove through dozens of tables draped with white linens in the honeycomb-shaped room. Each table was topped with a gorgeous spread of fresh flowers.

“Looks like the flowers are a hit,” Duncan said, sounding impressed.

“Now, I know what ninety-five bouquets of lilies and gardenias look like,” I agreed, glad I hadn’t been the one to order them.

Servers dressed in black from head to toe sauntered among the guests, offering trays to those who were already seated.

A woman with her dark hair pulled into an elegant bun sat at a piano in the lefthand corner, concentrating on the keys as she provided the source of the soft, soothing jazz. Guests were dressed to the nines: the men in tuxes like Duncan’s, the women each competing for finest gown.

I smoothed a hand along the little black dress I wore. It was nowhere near quite as fancy as anything here, but it was slimming and elegant. Simple, just the way I liked it. Duncan had seemed to like it, too, a fact that made me smile when I remembered the way his eyes had lit up at the sight of me before we’d left the lake house.

“This is all so fancy,” I muttered.

“Yeah, it is.”

“My family had thrown my grandparents’ birthday parties, but those were usually held in someone’s backyard with lawn chairs and little kids covered in dirt running around.”

A bit of the strain eased away from his shoulders. “I would have liked to see that.”

“You’d love it. Root beer was the sparkliest thing that was served, and people just lounged around in shorts and tank tops and eating cheeseburgers.”

---