"Got it," he said.
I expected him to back away, but he didn't. Instead, he slid something between us.
"Can you sneak a peek, baby?"
Baby? First he'd called me beautiful and now baby? I almost squealed.
Somehow, I managed to grasp the cool paper that he'd slid against my heaving bosom—God, I finally understood that phrase—and opened it as slyly as I could.
Up the steps where stories climb, seek the glow of a wintry rhyme.
After I whispered the clue to him, we stared at each other for a moment. "Looks like we're headed for the stairs next," he said. "Too bad. Because I like it right here."
Smiling up at him, I became lost in his gaze, until he sighed softly, pulling away from me, cool air flooding the space between us.
Handing the clue to him, he quickly tucked it into his pocket.
"Shouldn't you put it back for the next person?" I asked.
"Absolutely not."
"No? But... but that doesn't seem very fair."
His eyes lasered in on me, intense and unrelenting. "Fairness has nothing to do with it," he said, his voice low and deliberate. "When I want something, I take it."
Oh. Oh, wow.
There was nothing I could think of to say to that, except remind myself to breathe.
A noise to the side of us drew our attention. "This mirror isn't the only mirror in this room," mystery man uttered under his breath. "Come on. We've got to get to the stairs."
Taking my hand—taking my hand—he strode across the room while I managed to keep up with him. Good thing I loved to wear heels and had a lot of practice walking in them. I was not ashamed of being a very girlie girl.
Trying not to totally freak at the fact that our palms were clasped together, his hand so warm and strong and full of life, I also did my best to appear nonchalant. Nope. We weren't heading for the next clue or anything suspicious.
Now that I'd met this man, I desperately wanted that midnight dance. I mean, what better prelude to the evening of passion I was dying for?
Once we reached the grand staircase, I practically ran up the steps myself, but mystery man's grip stopped me. "Easy there, love. Wouldn't want you to sprain an ankle."
Love? Was he kidding me? And he was seriously thinking about the health of my joints? I was in danger of swooning for the first time in my life.
Clinging to my sanity, I did my best to come up with something cute and flirty. I had to charm this man, darn it.
"Oh, please," I said, swiping my free hand against his sleeve. "I could climb Mount Everest in these heels. I'm a professional. You should probably worry about your own ankles, honey."
Oh, my God, why had that come out so sassy? I was trying to make this man like me, not push him away.
While I waited with bated breath, I watched as he processed my words then laughed. He actually laughed!
And something about that sound caused a reaction inside me. Not the one you'd expect either. Because it was startlinglyfamiliar.
I narrowed my eyes at him from behind my mask. "Do I know you?"
He stopped laughing and became serious again. "No. We've never met. Masked or not, I would never forget you."
While that made me all melty inside, he also had a very good point. If we had ever met, I would definitely have remembered him. Maybe the laugh had just reminded me of someone else. That had to be it. Of course that was it.
Someone walked past which instantly stopped our conversation before it really began.
