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“What in the world was that about?” she said.
“Your date had a little too much to drink. He’s kind of an angry drunk.”
“Well, there goes my ride,” she joked. “It’s a good thing I’m staying here at the hotel and don’t need a driver.”
“I’ll walk you home,” Austin said. “It’s probably my fault he got so drunk. He said I worked you too hard tonight and kept you from him. Did I?”
Felicity laughed. “Are you kidding? He knew I had to work tonight. It didn’t help matters when he got a little handsy out there on the dance floor.”
“It’s a good thing I didn’t see that,” Austin said. “I would’ve thrown him out a long time ago.”
It was later than he realized, and soon the band announced their last number, a soulful rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love.
“Dance with me,” Austin said.
He offered his hand. She took it, and he pulled her into his arms. They swayed together to the music. When they’d danced earlier, it had been such a surprise, what with Savannah’s sudden shoe malfunction. Austin chuckled to himself.
“What is it?” Felicity asked, her words hot in his ear.
“I was just thinking about the timing of my sister’s broken shoe earlier this evening.”
“Yes, that was unfortunate, wasn’t it? Or fortunate, actually. Yes, I think it was fortunate.” She rested her head on his shoulder, nestling into him.
He pulled her closer, marveling at how good she felt, at the way his hand felt on the small of her back, at how she fit so perfectly against him, her curves magically tucking into the dips in his body. Her hair smelled of flowers and sunshine and everything that was good and right in the world. He could get used to this. God, he wanted to get used to this and from the way she was leaning into him he got the feeling Felicity could, too.
Chapter Eleven
After the ballroom emptied out, Austin and Felicity returned to the Sazerac Bar in the hotel. They had an hour before the place closed and both of them were too wound up to call it a night. They decided to have a casual debriefing over a bottle of well-deserved champagne since they didn’t have to drive. As Austin said, they’d earned it after the event being a smashing success.
“This is the second week in a row that we’re sipping champagne in the Sazerac,” Felicity said. “Is this a new thing? Because, I could get used to it.”
They clinked glasses. “All in all, I’d say the gala went off without a hitch,” Austin said.
Felicity shrugged. “Except for the missing basketball and Kevin’s drunken performance.”
She started to add Savannah’s broken shoe, but that hadn’t been a hardship. Felicity noticed later that Savannah had been wearing a pair of shoes. Felicity didn’t know whether she was able to fix hers or she had a spare pair up in her hotel room, but it didn’t matter. If Savannah had orchestrated the shoe malfunction, she wanted to hug her. If she did, did it mean that she was quietly advocating for Felicity and Austin to be together? At least that was one Fortune in her corner.
“But the gala was sold out, thanks to Kevin grabbing the last available table,” Austin offered. “And Charlotte was a no-show.”
And I got to dance with you, feel what it’s like to be in your arms. “That is true. We found the basketball and security discreetly handled Kevin. So, for all the important reasons, it was a pretty darn successful gala.”
The bar was empty, except for the two of them and another couple, who looked so wrapped up in each other that they seemed oblivious to Austin and Felicity’s presence. So, essentially, they were alone. The place felt like a cozy cocoon. Kevin, Macks, Charlotte and other inconveniences of the outside world seemed far away.
“Did you always want to go into advertising?” Austin asked as he refilled her glass.
“No, getting an undergrad degree in advertising and an MBA seemed like the most practical degrees for me. The most marketable.”
“What would you have studied if practicality didn’t matter?”
“Something that had to do with flowers.”
“What? Like being a florist?”
