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So they were still in character. Fun. She glanced at his coiled whip. “Only if you promise to protect me if any evildoers try to attack.”
“It’s a deal.”
She chuckled and sank onto one of the benches, setting her drink on the wide arm. He sat beside her, leaving sufficient room between them that she didn’t feel uncomfortable but close enough to be companionable. She popped a shrimp puff into her mouth and sighed in satisfaction.
He dabbed at his mouth with a black paper napkin. “Good food. I had a sandwich for lunch—I think. It was so long ago, I hardly remember.”
She smiled. “Digging up mysterious artifacts keeps you that busy?”
“You have no idea.”
She wasn’t in any hurry to discuss work, neither her own nor whatever his job might be. That would only lead to talk about other everyday topics that would bring an end to this diverting charade. Of course she was curious about this man’s real name, what he did, how he knew BiBi and Carl—but she was content to savor the passing moments until they got around to that point.
“Did you get one of these chocolate-dipped apricots?” he asked.
She glanced at her plate. “No, I don’t think so.”
He held an apricot to her lips. “You should taste it. Really good.”
Her gaze locking with his, she took a bite.
The noise from the party
drifted through the glass doors behind them, seeping into the quiet of the courtyard. A cool breeze toyed with her hair and brushed her cheek like a faint caress. Overhead, a misty gray cloud drifted across the face of the silver moon, adding to the fantasy feel of this beguiling encounter.
“Good?” he asked, his voice low, deep.
“Mmm.” She licked a spot of chocolate from her lower lip. “Very good.”
“You missed a spot.” Still looking into her eyes, he touched his fingertip to the corner of her mouth.
Feeling that contact all the way to her bone marrow, she lifted her eyebrows and spoke lightly. “I think you are flirting with me, Dr. Jones.”
His soft laughter was as rich and delicious as the chocolate. “I don’t believe it takes a crystal ball to see that, lovely Esmeralda. And my name is Jason, by the way.”
So she knew his real name now—at least part of it. And it didn’t affect the magic at all, she realized. “I’m Madison.”
He grinned as though acknowledging how amusing it was that they’d waited this long to get around to swapping first names. “Delighted to meet you, Madison.”
Her gold bracelets jingled when she set her almost-empty plate aside and lifted her drink to her lips again, watching him over the rim of her glass. She supposed she should get back to the party—she hadn’t participated at all, actually, and BiBi would surely wonder where she was—but how often did a girl get to sit in the moonlight with a fantasy hero?
“Speaking of crystal balls—” he set his own plate and glass aside “—you were going to read my palm after we ate?”
Looking up at him through her lashes, she drew a fingertip slowly down the center of his outstretched hand. “I see danger and adventure in your future, Dr. Jones.”
His lips twitched as though she’d said something wryly amusing. “Do you, now?”
“Absolutely.”
“And do I survive all that danger and adventure?”
“No question,” she assured him. “I can tell you are a man who is successful at any challenge he takes on.”
Actually, she thought she might be right about that, though she based the presumption more on intuition than mysticism.
Looking pleased by her words, he asked in the same light tone, “Do you foresee a dance with a captivating gypsy in my near future?”
She liked the idea of being held in those strong arms, nestled against that broad chest. “I’d be—”
