Page 47 of Sizzling Nights

Marco grinned. "Test one, two. Her dress is beautiful, and she's stunning in it."

Mitch chuckled. Marco turned to her and winked.

She smiled despite being nervous. He made her feel like she was in love for the first time.

Her tummy flipped, and it wasn't nerves. It was Marco.

Mitch opened his door and stepped out of the vehicle. Marco did the same and opened her door.

She smiled as she stepped from the vehicle. Her flowing dress swished as she moved. She'd never worn a dress like this before. She'd not even gone to her high school prom. She thought they were stupid. So, this was a first for her.

During her time in the military, she wore fatigues or a uniform. During her civilian life, she wore business casual. She didn't attend fancy dinners or balls, and if she did attend a ball for the military, it was always in uniform.

She worried about how this made her feel. At the ripe ol' age of thirty-two, she was wearing a gown, an expensive one at that, and for the first time, she felt pretty. Her head swirled at this feeling, and as they began walking toward the entry door with Marco's hand at the small of her back, she felt like a princess in a fairy tale.

She wanted to hold onto this feeling for a little bit. Who knew when it would happen again?

They neared the front door, and a man stopped them.

"Names, please."

Mitch responded, "Theresa Miklovic, Marco Karason, and Mitch DeMario."

The doorman checked their names off on a sheet and opened the door for them.

Marco's hand stayed at the small of her back, and she was grateful for that. She wondered if he could feel her shaking.

After they entered, they stopped at a table and received name tags. They weren't the kind of name tags you peel and stick on your clothing. That would be frowned upon and tacky. These were cute little name tags tied to flowers; boutonnieres for the men with a white rose, and a pretty white rose corsage for the women. What a cute way to have the name tags hung. Apparently, they were sparing no expense.

After they'd had their name tags pinned on, she turned to Mitch. "Is this covering anything?"

He pulled his phone up and read a text, then he answered her, "It's covering a camera slightly, but not a problem. I don't want them to see us moving it, so we'll work with it."

Theresa nodded, inhaled a deep breath, and let it out slowly while her hand absently rested against her tummy. Those butterflies were back, only this time they weren't because of Marco.

They entered through an arched doorway into a gorgeous ballroom. There were all kinds of people standing around, small groups drinking and laughing. The women were glittering with diamonds and sparkling gowns.

There were large buffet-style tables set up all around the perimeter of the room with expensive prizes on them. It was for a silent auction. In front of each prize was a clipboard with numbers where guests added their names and how much they were willing to bid for a particular prize.

She thought that was a good thing to show Mitch's employees, so she bent down so that her cameras would pick up the names on the clipboard.

Marco was doing the same with his cufflinks.

They walked slowly along the auction tables, looking at the prizes and the names on the clipboards.

She would try and remember to do it again just before the auction prizes were called, so it would be a more complete list than this one.

Marco steered her to a bar at the back of the room.

The bartender asked, "What will you have?"

Marco grinned. "Two glasses of champagne, please."

Her brows furrowed.

He leaned down, kissed her temple, and whispered in her ear, "Sip it slowly. We need to look like we're here enjoying ourselves."

She nodded and smiled.

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