Page 3 of Forbidden Dark Vows

He doesn’t finish because my mom has walked around the outside of the rink and is waving something at me. Harry follows my gaze, and I inhale deeply.

“Gotta go, sorry. Nice meeting you, Harry Weiss.”

He nods. “You too, Ruby Jackson.”

I feel mean abandoning him, but at least he can hold onto the side and pretend that he’s taking a break. My spot beside him is immediately filled by another guy in a smart tweed coat, and I recognize him as one of the men who arrived with Alessandro Russo. Maybe Harry knows him too.

“Ruby!” My mom grabs my attention, and I shove Harry Weiss to the back of my thoughts. Wrong surname. Probably wrong background, too for what my mom has in mind. “What are you doing?”

“Being friendly to the paying customers?” I’ve spotted my car keys in her hand and try to grab them, but she snatches them away from me.

“Nu-huh. Not until you get out there and get yourself noticed.”

“Have you seen how many people have had the same idea?”

She pockets my keys and sets her features into a this-is-me-you’re-talking-to expression. “Other people are not you, Ruby. Other people can’t skate right over there, grab his goddamn hand, and show him what you can do.”

“What makes you think he’ll be interested in what I can do?”

“He’s a good-looking, hot-blooded young man, and you’re a beautiful young woman.”

That’s it. That’s her reasoning, and she doesn’t even see anything wrong in the way she presented it like being a female is enough.

I don’t tell her that I’m done being a maggot. He’ll either notice me or he won’t. And even if I reel him in, there’s no guarantee that he won’t flip straight back into the water to chase the fish already wagging their tails in his face.

“You’re not getting your keys back until you do,” she says, “so I suggest you start performing now.” My mom walks away, her eyes on the prize who is currently autographing the back of someone’s hand, a well-practiced smile on his face.

I skate around the group of fans, giving my best impression of someone who doesn’t know that she’s in the presence of movie royalty. I don’t even look in Alessandro Russo’s direction. I focus on the blades cutting the surface of the ice, and everything I ever learned when my mom dragged me to the rink as a child.

I sense, rather than see, the shift in the atmosphere. The music grows livelier, cashing in on the Friday night experience, and the crowd starts moving away from the celebrity, giving him space to strut his stuff. Two tunes later, and he’s skating alongside me, hands behind his back like this was what he was born to do.

“Do you come here often?” He flashes me his most dazzling smile like that will seal the deal with minor effort on his part.

“Seriously? That’s your chat-up line?” Sometimes, I can’t help myself.

He laughs out loud. I bet it’s won him a few dates before now with that laughter. “Shit. You got me there. You’re good.” He gestures to the ice.

Here’s the point where I should tell him that he’s not so bad himself. You know, flirt a bit, bat my eyelashes at him. But then I spot Harry Weiss in my peripheral vision, clinging for dear life to the side of the rink as my mom approaches him, says something, and then waits for him to make his way off the ice.

Whatever she said, it worked. He glances my way, once, but he doesn’t smile or wave or even acknowledge that he almost took my fingers off. Nothing.

Then a new track comes through the speakers. ‘Love is in the Air’. It’s my dad’s favorite tune, and it hits me like a jolt straight through my heart that I’m doing this for my dad. For us. To give us all a better life. And I smile at the hot actor.

2

HARRY

It’slate by the time I arrive at the InterContinental for Alessandro’s birthday party. I didn’t even see the others leave the skating rink—I was too busy changing the tire on Ruby’s car. Her mom, Celia, told me that she’d noticed her daughter’s car had a slow puncture and she didn’t want her to be stranded in the city when she finished her shift.

I mean, how could I refuse?

I stumbled right over the goddamn top of her—changing her tire was the least I could do. Not that I was helping as an apology. I’d already made an ass of myself with that one.

If I’m honest, I don’t even recall the physical process of the tire change. I guess I was shell shocked, or at least in a bit of a daze, reeling from my brief conversation with Ruby. Something about her…

Anyway, I study my reflection in the elevator mirror and realize that I have grease on my chin. I try scrubbing it off with the sleeve of my sweater and only succeed in spreading it further, so now I look like a kid who’s just returned from summer camp.I smooth my hair back with my hands and sigh when it springs straight back up again.

The party is in full swing, buzzing with laughter and loud conversations that will only grow more boisterous as the evening progresses. I’ll stay for a couple of drinks and then leave—parties are not really my scene, they’re much more Alessandro’s thing. I guess if we met now, rather than at Uni, we probably wouldn’t be friends, we wouldn’t even socialize in the same circles.

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