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“Nicholas,” I protest with a laugh, tugging him back. “We can’t just leave.”
“But you agreed in the garden,” he says, turning back to face me with a wicked look in his eyes.
“Yes, well, I was under duress.”
He grins at that, leaning in to kiss me on the mouth. I lean into him too so that when he pulls away, I have a millisecond where I feel like I’m falling and no one will catch me.
His arm comes around my waist and he sighs. “Fine. If you think we have to stay here, we’ll stay.”
“Do you plan on keeping me pinned against you all night?”
“If I have to. Have you seen yourself in this dress?”
He looks down as if in pain.
“I warned you about it.”
“You didn’t warn me enough.”
I try not to look like I’m gloating as we whirl back into the ballroom. Nicholas keeps his hand on my back as he leads us toward the bar. After he orders, he takes a long sip of his drink, gets another good look at me in my dress, and then downs another sip. I can only smile.
It doesn’t take long for our party of two to get interrupted. Cornelia finds us soon enough, glancing down at where Nicholas’ hand is still on my back. She doesn’t issue any commentary, but she is intrigued enough to arch one of her eyebrows.
“Maren? Can I steal you away from Nicky for a moment? I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine. Her grandson goes to St. Michael’s, and he’s been raving to her about his new piano teacher Ms. Mitchell.”
“Of course. Nicholas won’t miss me too much,” I tease, hurrying to follow after her.
He tugs me back for a moment, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand as his eyes narrow on mine. His look says, Hurry back…or else, and it sends a shiver down my spine.
Cornelia locks elbows with me as we walk across the room, her shrewd gaze trying to catch mine.
“Should I ask?”
I shrug. “If you do, I won’t have an answer for you.”
“I was worried that might be the case. I do hope the two of you know what you’re doing. I can’t think of two people I care about more.”
“Would you be upset if—”
“I’d rather you not even finish that question. It’s insulting. You know how I feel about you. I’d love nothing more than to see you with Nicholas.”
“What about Tori?”
“Yes, well, I think we all know that match was never meant to be. Tonight proves it.”
“I don’t want you to think Nicholas and I are anything serious. You know him—I have no idea what he’s thinking at the moment.”
“I’d rather not get involved. I’m not sure whose side I would take, and if he treats you badly or you break his heart, I’d rather not know the gritty details. I can’t imagine picking one of you over the other.”
“But he’s your family,” I press.
“And so what? I’ve fallen in love with you just the same. You’re my dear Maren, and please don’t forget that.”
I’m surprised by how busy I’m kept for the next hour. Cornelia introduces me to her friend, who wants to introduce me to another friend. Then Tori and Mary Anne catch up with us and we three sneak away to the dessert table. I search for Ariana, wondering where she might have gone off to, and accidentally lock eyes with Nicholas across the room. He’s standing with Rhett and a few other guys, but he’s angled in my direction.
I blush as he lifts his drink to his mouth, and I’m unable to look away.
We should have never left the garden, I think, flicking my eyes to the French doors.
The subtle tilt of his mouth tells me he agrees.
“Are you hopelessly in love with him yet or what?” Tori asks, following my gaze.
I laugh as if the idea is insane and turn my back on Nicholas to face the desserts.
“Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m still not convinced we can sit in a room together for longer than five minutes without wringing each other’s necks.”
“I think you two might just want to tear each other’s clothes off.”
I hum as if the idea hadn’t occurred to me and reach for a little cup of chocolate mousse. “You guys haven’t seen Ariana, have you?”
“Last I saw she was headed out to the garden with Barrett.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Is that weird? You don’t like him, do you? You were just sending Nicholas some pretty heavy screw-me eyes.”
I’m quick to defend my reaction. “No, I don’t like him like that. I’m just surprised…”
“Oh, wait, there’s Barrett,” Tori says, nodding her head toward a group of people not far from us. “But no Ariana.”
“I’m going to go check outside.”
I don’t want her to feel like I abandoned her here. I know so few people, which means she knows even fewer. I reach for another cup of mousse as a peace offering and carry it to the French doors, relieved to see a blonde girl leaning against the thick stone railing that divides the porch from the garden beyond.
