Page 13 of A Midnight Kiss on Ever After Street
He reaches out slowly and lifts a fold of rainbow silk and sky-blue organza from my skirt and rubs his thumb over it, looking down as though it’s something revered, and using such a careful touch that it’s like he’s scared of tearing it with his huge fingers. ‘The whole sky in a dress.’
Eventually he lets go and murmurs an apology, even though he has nothing to apologise for. Being under his gaze feels special somehow.
He goes over to a white rose bush and goes to pluck one, looks at me, and then reconsiders and sidesteps to cut off a red one instead. As he comes over, he’s brushing every thorn from the stem, and he holds the rose out.
My fingers touch his as I take it and hold it to my nose to inhale the scent, letting my eyes close at the romance of the gesture. No one hasevergiven me a rose before.
‘May I?’
I nod, and he takes the rose carefully from my hand and tucks it behind my ear, letting his fingers trail through my hair as he steps away.
I open my eyes and meet his and he starts laughing. ‘Was that the cheesiest thing anyone’s ever done? I swear there’s a spell on this castle tonight. I lose my mind every time I look at you.’
I laugh too. ‘It was nice. Cheesy, but nice. Rom—’ I go to say ‘romantic’ but I don’t want to make it awkward.
I smile at him and he smiles at me and it’s like there’s a warmth in the air between us. It’s not cold tonight and it’s not too warm, it’s the most perfect night anyone could’ve dreamt of.
‘Would you do me the honour of dancing with me?’ He holds his hand out again, another perfect Prince Charming pose, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think there was a genuine chance that he really is royalty. Surely non-aristocrats don’t behave like this?
I slip my hand into his and he pulls me gently closer, still keeping a respectful distance between our bodies.
‘It’s not going to be “Tale As Old As Time” is it?’
I break the intensity by making him laugh, and he holds up a finger. ‘I have an idea. Hold that thought.’
He goes to the wall in the far corner, swings his legs over it and drops down onto the other side. There are a few noises: the rattle of keys again, the sound of a window opening, and the music from downstairs filters up, louder now. He must’ve opened a window to the ballroom below. He jumps back over the wall with ease on such ridiculously long legs.
‘All the fun of the party with none of the crowds.’ He brushes his hands off and reassumes the position, and I slip my fingers over his again.
The singer below is having a break and the orchestra are playing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ fromThe Nutcracker Suiteand the classical tune filters up from below, loud enough to hear but quiet enough not to be a disturbance.
His right hand closes around my ribs, and his left hand extends to hold onto mine, and we start a waltz. Usually I’d be overthinking it, but everything feels different with him. It’s a night of romantic firsts. Just as no one’s ever given me a rose before, no one’s ever danced with me in the moonlight before, and I’m not sure things have ever felt so natural with someone.
I remember doing this with my father when I was little, standing on his shoes and practising a ‘Cinderella’ dance that I’d do at my future wedding. Doesn’t every little girl dream of one day wearing a ballgown and dancing with a man she loves more than anything else in the world? Dreams like that were quickly wiped out as I grew up, but tonight, I feel like that little girl again. As if anything is possible. As though fairy-tale castles and Prince Charming can exist in real life, and you can really go to balls and meet a prince. A figurative prince. I’m fairly sure he’s notactualroyalty.
‘I haven’t done this for a long while. My father taught me to dance when I was young. He mistakenly believed I’d have a lot of use for twirling fair maidens around a ballroom.’
‘My father taught me too. I grew up under the illusion that there were many more Prince Charmings in the world than there actually are, and the movies make you believe that you’ll attend a lot more fairy-tale balls than you actually do.’
He’s strong and firm, holding me steady, and although it’s been years since I danced, each move is instinctive. I mean, we’d probably get a one out of Craig Revel Horwood onStrictly Come Dancing, but it feels right tonight.
He spins and twirls me and lifts me with ease, and with every twirl, the skirt of my dress crashes against him like a wave, the soft rustle of the many layers of fine fabric adding to the atmosphere of the night.
The castle encloses us, as though we’re right in the heart of it. Behind us are brick walls, and in front are the trees that surround the castle and the hills. The almost round moon glowing down will be full later this week, and there are no lights out here to take away the view of a million twinkling stars. His aftershave has taken over every other sense. He smells of the darkest chocolate and the driest wood, something inky and bewitching, and I’m not sure I’ve ever smelt anything sexier.
‘Your dress moves like the ocean.’ His voice is a deep whisper and he has to swallow a few times before he can get any words out. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s like dancing with a cloud.’
‘Thank you,’ I say again, my mouth suddenly dry from the closeness of his body. ‘It feels like wearing a dream. I don’t wear clothes like this in real life.’
‘That was made for you.’
Oh, if only he knew how true that was. ‘Look a bit daft walking round Tesco though, wouldn’t it?’
He bursts out laughing so hard that he missteps and nearly overbalances us both. ‘Ah, the illusion of being dashing and debonair can only last for so long. Sorry.’
Everything about him makes me feel normal. There’s an ease between us, a feeling that neither of us needs to hide our true selves. He looks every inch the Prince Charming, but beneath the expensive suit and shiny shoes, he’s like me. Awkward and used to not fitting in. He seems shy, kind of clumsy, and he’s someone who chooses tea over champagne and who buys birthday cake for the sake of it, andthatis what makes him so charming.
As the song reaches a crescendo, his hands close around my waist and he lifts me up for a final spin, and I feel like a firework spinning in the sky as he lowers me slowly, my hands on his shoulders as he sets me down and steps back, and with one hand behind his back and one over his heart, he bows.
