“Well, aren’t you? I mean, what are the odds two people would be wearing the same costume? Especially when it’s a character from a film that’s what, something like thirty-six years old.”
“It was a book first, and the book is something like fifty years old.”
He lowered his brow. “I know that.”
“You aren’t just surprised that you found another person wearing the same costume, you’re surprised that it’s a woman.”
“I didn’t say that,” he insisted.
Although, he had thought it.
“You didn’t have to,” she hissed.
He took a step toward her. Those dark eyes were perfect for Montoya. The kind of eyes he would imagine the character having.
“You’re not exactly difficult to read,” she spat.
“I’m not, am I? Okay, suppose you tell me what I’m doing outside here on the terrace?”
“Well that’s obvious. You’re talking to me, pretending that your surprise that I’m wearing the same costume has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a woman.”
The corner of his lip quivered, and he quickly bit it to keep from grinning.
“All right, then, tell me what I was doing before you came out onto the terrace.”
“I said you were easy to read. That doesn’t mean knowing everything about you like some kind of mystic or fortune teller. But if I had to guess, I would say you were thinking about which of the women in that ballroom you planned to take back to your hotel room.”
Now he did grin. She was wrong.
“If I had to guess,” she said, “I would say you’ve chosen Tiffany Bright.”
His brow wrinkled as he narrowed his eyes. Why had she chosen that particular woman? Had the thought crossed his mind when he’d been introduced to her? Yes. But it had left immediately after.
Nico looked smug. “I thought so.”
What made her so certain? And so angry?
They’d done well in Monza. They were getting along fine. And now. This.
He plastered a smug smile of his own on his face. “Now that would be a good choice. She is very … very …”
“Very,” Nico said.
Rocco grinned and growled, “Indeed.”
“Humph. I told you, you’re easy to read.”
“Ah, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about. Not that the thought hadn’t occurred to me earlier in the evening.”
“Well there you are.”
“And what about you? There are some decent-looking guys in that room. Unless, of course, you prefer women. Please don’t tell me we’re going to need to brandish these swords for real and fight for the heart of one Tiffany Bright. Perhaps that’s why you mentioned her. Are you, by chance, interested in her … for yourself?”
“No, you needn’t worry. I’m not interested in anyone in that room, man or woman.”
“Why not? Someone at home?”
“No.”
