“Oh, I love this song.” Izabella’s hands came to her chest in an almost childish gesture. She slid a not-so-subtle glance in Marco’s direction. Staring off into the distance, he appeared to be humming. Sofia wore a small smile.
Time for me to exit. “Guess I should check with Lexi,” I murmured.
“Oh no. We must dance.” With that, Marco swung me into his arms.
My breath caught in my throat. I clung to his arm for support. Chuckling, Sofia led Izabella away. The poor girl looked as if she’d just been in a hit-and-run accident.
“What are we doing?” I stared at him in all his blazing lordship.
That playful grin? Marco clearly thought he had license to do anything. Maybe he was right. Holding my right arm out as if we were going to waltz, he grinned. “Why, we are dancing, of course.”
This was crazy. But very exciting. I pushed back a bit and we were off. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d waltzed. Wallace hadn’t been much for dancing.
“Are you feeling like Jay Gatsby tonight? Does this gala meet with your approval?” I had to smile up at him. He looked so pleased.
Marco’s square chin went up and his arm tightened around my waist. “Do I look like him? The Jay Gatsby character?”
The truth was, he looked better. “Oh, yes. You could have been in the movie…along with this castle.”
That went over well. He chuckled under his breath. “I’m glad you are here, Christina Newhart from America. You have made my home more…lively.”
“Lively? Well, um, good.” I’d been called many things. But not lively. Little mousy me? No way.
A breeze had kicked up and my hair would not behave. Marco surprised me by capturing one of my curls in his fingers. Now, I know we can’t feel our hair. Not really. Not unless it’s torn out at the root. But I felt his fingers, felt the stroke. Saw his eyes turn to velvet when he murmured, “So soft.”
I swallowed the biggest lump ever in my throat and somehow sucked in a breath. “Back to dancing, Jay Gatsby, er, Your Majesty.”
His raucous laughter made others turn. And I so did not want to be the center of attention. I was really messing this up. “Sorry, Your Majesty. I’m just not used to all this.”
“But you like to tease me, yes?” Marco’s eyes glittered.
“Yes, I do.” And I laughed. “It’s fun to tease you, but not too often.”
“I love that.” With that he threw back his head and roared. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Ama talking to someone. Hearing her son’s antics, she shook her head in disapproval. I couldn’t blame her.
“I won’t tease you anymore.”
His smile collapsed. “Oh, but I want you to. Please. Tease me.”
“You are incorrigible.”
His Majesty tossed my observation off with a shrug. “I don’t know what that means. So I will have to look it up.”
“Oh, don’t bother. Let me save you the trouble.” Almost magnetically our bodies moved closer. My left arm rested on his shoulder and oh my, his shoulders were broad. Where was I? “Incorrigible means naughty.”
Marco’s arm tightened around me. “I think I like that.” He was getting the wrong impression.
“B-bad naughty. You know.”
But he didn’t know. I could see that in his laughing eyes. Or if he knew, he didn’t care. Kings have that license, I supposed. He nipped his lower lip as if he were thinking. Then his eyes moved over me, leaving chills in their wake. “You look lovely tonight, Profesora. So…”
I waited. Time seemed suspended while he searched for words. But I had heard “lovely.” First he’d called me beautiful. Now he called me lovely.
“I haven’t seen that dress in a long time.”
“What?”Stay with the program, Christina.Marco was swirling me about, and my head was whirling right with us. I felt so disoriented. We’d just passed the fountain. Were we creating a scene? Of course, he was the host and that tuxedo emphasized his broad shoulders and trim hips. But Marco’s charming smile would catch attention wherever he went, especially among eligible young ladies and their scheming mothers, or so I supposed.
But back to my gown, which was swirling nicely at that point, as if it were made for waltzing. “So you’ve seen the dress.” I wondered what else Ama had in her magical closet?
