Page 33 of A Girl and HER Prince
Like the Greek king this festival celebrated from ancient times, he watched the proceedings with an almost regal air.Ugh. I don’t have the resistance for this!
Achilles was with him, swathed all in black like the shadows around them. His scowl showed he was in a dangerous mood tonight. Turner too, had come, and unlike the others, he was a welcome sight with a gentle lift of his lips as he scanned the crowd. Bris pouted next to him. The sour-faced princess leaned against Turner in a sparkling gold dress, her gaze sweeping over the dancing like it offended her.
Now all of Deedee’s hints were beginning to make sense. “You invited them!” she accused.
Deedee bit back a smile. “Please, please, don’t be mad! I want him seething when I give away his ruby ring to someone far more deserving.”
Livvy groaned. This night was supposed to be enchanting—not centered on that man! It was going to be hard enough forgetting Venice without him actually being here. Suddenly, she noticed Turner had broken away from Bris and moved through the mass of people to get to them. The bodyguard must be off duty tonight.
Relief flooded through her—if anyone could help her not to make a fool of herself, it was the sweet Turner. She’d hold onto him like a lifeline.
Bris’s frown turned deeper, if that was possible, and Achilles shoved Venice with his shoulder, but all the background melted away as Turner met eyes with Livvy. The bodyguard gave her a grin so contagious that she felt her own lips tugging upwards.
“See?” Deedee said. “You’re happy I did it!”
Not exactly.“You could’ve said something!”
“And ruin the surprise?” Deedee watched a handsome Greek to the side of them—he’d been part of their line dance earlier, and now the two were making eyes at each other. One bright smile from Deedee broke his initial reservation and he came their way.
Livvy finally gave in to the exasperated laugh tickling against her throat. “Why do I have a feeling you’re trying to get rid of me while you get into mischief?”
“Say ‘hi’ to Turner, I promise you won’t regret it.” Deedee bumped Livvy with her hip, pushing her towards the man in question before she twisted around to flutter her lashes at the tall, dark stranger. “Time for me to get to work,” she said under her breath. “You’ve got your own conquest to make.”
Deedee disappeared into the crowd just as Turner reached Livvy. A shy, embarrassed smile forced itself across her face. “You’re… here!”
“Yes, is that not strange? Do you dance?”
“Well…” That was up for interpretation. “Iliketo dance. Does that count?”
“It does in my circles,kalé mou fíle.” He held his hand out to her.
“What does that mean?” she asked, feeling the firm grip of his fingers over hers. “Kalé mou file?”
“Myverygood friend,” he whispered.
Pleasure erupted through her at his tender expression. Something about those warm eyes told her that she was in good hands. She glanced over at Deedee, seeing that, instead of dancing, she was whispering with the man behind a pillar. They sure had a lot to say for only knowing each other for a full hot minute.
Deedee always worked fast.
Turner brought Livvy close to him, stealing back her attention as she felt his heart pound beneath hers. His legs ran against hers in the movement of the tango. She caught her breath. Dancing with him was far more intimate than she’d expected. The steps were complicated and she certainly wasn’t getting them all, but he led with the confidence of a man in charge. It took talent to make her look like she knew what she was doing.
She smiled gratefully up at him. “You dance this way often?”
He swept her around in response. That would be a “yes.”
Again she wondered about his mysterious past. He had a strange relationship with Venice and his family. Supposedly, he was their security, but he certainly wasn’t acting the bodyguard now. He had no regard for anyone else but her.
The intensity of his heated gaze found her as he dipped her. “You look beautiful,” he said.
She beamed at another unexpected compliment. “I need to be careful when I’m around you—I might get a big head.”
His hands tightened on hers as he lifted her back to her feet. Turner was a very strong man. She could feel it behind his grip and in his muscular shoulders and how he swung her around as if she weighed nothing until she felt fairly dizzy with the excitement of the dance.
He stopped abruptly in the middle of the dance floor. His gaze lifted. She noticed the annoyance in his expression before it was quickly shadowed with a pleasant look. Turning, Livvy saw Venice blocked their way.
The prince lifted a brow at his bodyguard. “You mind if I cut in?”
They’d only just started! Livvy kept back her gasp of shock, even as her skin sizzled at the thought of touching his again. Fighting over her like two cavemen wielding clubs hardly seemed like the polite thing to do, especially since these two were friends… or did he see Turner as less than that? She fumed for him, even as her treacherous body yearned for Venice to take her into this dance.
