Dario sighed. “Yeah. Sure. Okay.”
But in some of those photos, she was wearing her racing suit.
Dario seemed to have forgotten that fact, and Rocco wasn’t about to remind him.
He looked down at his hands and thought of hers. How small and delicate they were.
Would it really be so bad if we did? Well, yes, if things didn’t go well. I mean, we’re teammates. But what if they did go well? Would it be so bad then?
Thinking about her hands made him wonder what it would be like to kiss her. Would her kisses be like her hands or more like her dark eyes and that hair? What would she be like in bed? When he thought of the things he’d discovered about her during that drinking game, he thought she must be wild in bed.
Rocco blinked when he saw Dario with an uneasy look, staring at him.
Laughing, he shoved him. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m not stupid enough to start something with her. We’re teammates. It would be a big mistake.”
“Huge,” Dario added.
“Besides, even if I tried, she wouldn’t go for it. My nieces told her I called her a cockroach.”
Dario burst out laughing. “What? When did—”
“Dario! Rocco!” Celeste cried, waving them over.
Nico entered the grand ballroom. The ivory and pale blue walls looked like works of art themselves. Every doorway and window was framed by swirling stucco delicate as lace and frescoes that looked as though they’d been carved from the walls rather than painted on them. A seriesof windows framed the lake, and in the center were French doors leading out onto a terrace.
She scanned the crowd of colorful characters—women dressed in flowing scarves, rich tapestries, and velvet. Nico eyed one dressed as Scheherazade, another Queen Anne Boleyn joined by a man dressed as King Henry VIII. There were men dressed in suits of armor, as pirates, and even a couple in suits looking very much like the characters fromMen in Black. But no Guinevere and Lancelot. She didn’t know what Rocco was dressed as. Perhaps she was looking at him right now and didn’t know it.
Do I want to see him?
No. Not exactly.
That was in part true. And in part false.
She did want to see him—but so badly, it was unsettling. The result being that she wanted very much not to want to see him.
Adjusting her wig of dark rakish curls and making certain the moustache she was sporting was secure, she turned around. She spotted a hallway on her right, approached it, walked up a couple steps, and stopped almost immediately when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Seen the cockroach yet?” Dario said with a laugh.
Nico froze. He was standing directly behind her.
“By the way, don’t go asking any questions about the stuff she revealed last night during that drinking game. Celeste told me to tell you that. Not that you would—but, don’t. You said it yourself, she’s a bit odd, and who knows what the rest of the story is.”
He must think I’m Rocco.
She and Rocco must be wearing a similar costume—at least similar enough from the back. She was wearing padding in her shoulders, and her platform boots made her appear taller. She’d also walked up a couple steps to enter the hallway up ahead. Dario must not have noticed.
“Hey, look, I’m still a little worried. Not about you. But about her. I mean, what if Nico gets ideas—you know, the wrong ideas? That could make things awkward. Maybe even get in the way of your performance.”
Nico stiffened. She wished she’d turned around immediately when he’d come up to her. Even if there would have been an embarrassing moment because of that cockroach comment, Nico could have explained that she knew about it and Rocco had apologized.
Too late now. There’s no way I can turn around now.
“I’m just glad nothing happened last night,” Dario went on. “Like you said, it would have been a real boneheaded move. I never even thought it until Celeste mentioned it. But you know Celeste gets these ideas into her head. She’s closer to Nico, and I’m guessing she got the idea from her. Just know, the girl might have a crush on you; she probably does. Nothing serious, mind you. She’ll get past it. As long as you don’t encourage her. And definitely don’t act on it.
“Now as for that blonde you were just introduced to, Tiffany Bright, you’d be a fool to let that one slip through your fingers. You’re not the only one whose jaw dropped to the floor when she entered the room. She’s one fine mermaid. And she’s definitely interested. I would hit that if I were you. You have the perfect getaway to keep it from developing into anything serious. We leave for Monaco in a few days.”
Nico could feel him turn as he removed his hand from her shoulder.
