He bursts into a cascade of laughter. But it’s not in the slightest mocking or mean. It’s warm and heartfelt.
And loud.
“Your turn,” I say, in an attempt to stop him, because we are attracting less-than-friendly stares from the couples around us. “Stop laughing like a maniac and tell me three things about yourself. Three fears.”
He laughs for a few more seconds before assuming a solemn face.
“I hate snakes and always keep a light on when I sleep. And I suffer from chronic commitment phobia.”
His words hit me like a whiplash. Amazing how lighthearted and playful he throws them at me.
“So I’ve heard,” I say, trying-and failing-to keep my voice steady.
“I wanted to make sure you know it from me,” he says in a soft voice. Yet for all the softness, it still feels like whiplash.
“That’s very considerate of you.”
Why do his words have this impact on me? Why do they have any impact at all? I guessed a while ago how things are. I wish we weren’t dancing so I could run away. Put as much distance as possible between him and me. My wish is not far from being granted. Though I haven’t listened to many waltzes in my life, I’m sure the orchestra is playing the ending tones right now. I try to distance myself from his intoxicating presence, but his grip on me is firmer than ever.
“I saw how you were looking at me in that bar,” he whispers with urgency.
Crap, so Jess wasn’t exaggerating. I do my best to put on the poker face she mimicked on our way home, then I remember I have a mask on anyway.
“Why did you invite me here?”
“Why did you come?” he asks, and there is a slight uneasiness in his voice.
“Because you invited me,” I answer as sardonically as possible.
“I was curious,” he says quietly.
I didn’t wait to find out what he was curious about. The second the music stops I tear away from his arms and start walking as fast as possible through the sea of people, most still entangled in their partner’s arms.
It’s only when I reach the bar that I realize I’ve been walking in the opposite direction from the door. I swirl on my heels, determined to get out of here at any cost before the next song begins.
And then I collide with someone so violently I lose my balance and start losing height. I close my eyes and grit my teeth in preparation for my impending clash with the parquet.
It doesn’t come.
A sharp pa
in my left arm tells me someone caught me in my free fall. The guy I collided with. He helps me get back on my feet and I open my mouth to thank him but the words freeze in my throat when I meet his eyes. I know those blue eyes. And the lopsided smile.
It doesn’t have that conceited, almost insolent air James’s smile has, but the full lips and very fine dimple in his chin are identical.
“So sorry. Are you all right?”
He’s English.
“Are you related to… Ja-the Cohens?” I say, biting my lip.
He looks taken aback for a moment, then his smile widens. “You’re English. What a nice surprise. To answer your question, yes, my mother, Lady Catherine, and Lady Beatrix Cohen are sisters,” he says in a formal tone that doesn’t match his smile. “That makes me a first cousin to James and Dani. Of course, the paternal side of my family might also be of interest to you. Astounding pedigree. I’m two-hundred-forty-sixth in line for the British throne,” he finishes, and I crack up.
“Not bragging about that again, Parker?” Dani says, appearing at Parker’s side out of nowhere.
“Just using everything in my arsenal to impress the fair lady here-”
“Serena,” I say.
“Serena, in the hope she’ll forgive me for knocking her over in the most unceremonious way.”
Dani and I both burst out laughing.
“Are you okay?” she asks after we both calm down. There’s too much concern in her eyes for her to be referring to my near encounter with the floor. She must have seen me pulling away from James’s arms.
“Of course she is,” Parker, who seems blissfully unaware of anything, says. “If she isn’t, she will be in a few minutes. There’s nothing a gin and tonic can’t remedy.” He signals the bartender to make one.
“Can you get me one too?” Dani says, looking at him with hope.
“That’s my girl.” He puts one arm around her shoulders affectionately and the other one around mine as we watch the bartender make the drinks. “So, how come you never introduced me to your adorable friend before?”
“She didn’t know her until today,” a voice says from behind us.
Parker instantly stiffens and withdraws his arm.
Dani and Parker turn around, but I take my time. I wait for the bartender to hand me the drink, take a sip, and only then follow suit. I find James’s gaze fixed on me.
“Then I can blame you for not introducing us earlier,” Parker jokes, but his posture is far stiffer than it should be.
“Indeed,” James says without taking his eyes off me. “Dani, I hope the drink behind you is for someone else.”
A wave of warmth surges through me at such a blatant display of overprotectiveness toward his sister while Dani, understandably, scoffs.
“Would you mind if we finish our conversation?” James asks me.
The honest answer is yes, but he looks so determined I can’t see how I can get out of this without causing a scene.
“Sure,” I say and follow him, thinking it can’t be worse than before with so many people around us who don’t even have dancing to concentrate on anymore. My reassurance shatters when I realize the wooden wall behind the bar is a fake one, and the real wall is behind it. The room between the two of them is filled with empty tables and cabinets carrying every imaginable type of glass and porcelain plates. Unfortunately, there is plenty of space among the cabinets for two people to talk, sheltered from absolutely every guest’s view.
“That wasn’t polite,” he says the second we’re inside, and I can tell he’s refraining from using a harsher word.
“I wanted to leave,” I admit.
“And ended up at the bar?” he says with a laugh that feels forced. I wonder what wouldn’t feel forced, what would alleviate the unbearable tension between us. As he stands with his back turned to me, inspecting-or pretending to inspect-one of the glass-filled cabinets, I have an inexplicable, almost frightening rush to close the distance between us and look him in the eyes, stroke him, touch him.