As the day wore on, Toni was obviously peopled out, but aside from her surliness over the post-signing promo photos, she hid it well. The rest of Saturday was a blur. Dinner. After-dinner drinks.
“No weddings tonight,” Lady Dove tittered. “We do, however, have accompaniment for a dance.”
Toni offered an arm to Addie as they were all herded into the ballroom. “Like sheep to a shearing,” she muttered.
Addie smothered a giggle.
“Our guests of honor will start the dance,” the second, sterner Lady Dove announced. Her gaze met Addie’s, and she nodded toward the floor.
“Do you mind?” Addie asked quietly. “I can refuse if—”
“I never mind having you in my arms.” Toni led her to the center of the floor, glanced at the musicians, and gave a solitary nod.
The music started, and for the next minute or so, they were the only people on the floor. Addie felt transported. Never mind that this was a fake historical setting, and she was in a fake marriage. What mattered was the fire in Toni’s gaze, the command with which she led Addie, and the certainty that Addie was the luckiest woman alive in that moment.
“What’s that smile about, Lady Adelaine?” Toni murmured as they flowed across the room. Other couples were filling the floor now, so she had to be alert to those dancing or walking by them.
“I’m happy,” Addie confessed. “Being here in your arms makes mefeel incredible. I suspect it would be the same if we were wearing jeans and flannels. It’s not the dress, or the music, or the room. It’s just you.”
“So I’m not a terrible fake wife,” Toni teased.
You are exactly what I want in a wife,Addie thought.
All she said, though, was “You’re doing a fine job of romancing me, Lord Darbyshire. I bet half these women will fantasize about being in my place.”
Toni laughed loudly, seemingly relaxing into the moment. “I doubt most of them would want to be around the real me. I’m moody, short-tempered, introverted—”
“Clever, funny, giving,” Addie interjected.
“You bring out the best in me,” Toni said lightly, twirling her past the women in their dresses and the men in their suits. Today, with being open to the public, there was a sea of unusual costumes as well as Victorian ones. It also meant that they weren’t the only pair of women dancing together.
Their brief waltz made Addie feel like a princess at a ball—or a Victorian at a ball that was historically inaccurate for its tolerance of the suit-clad author who swept her around the room. The ballroom was as stunning as the rest of Cape Dove Manor. The attention to detail in every corner of the mansion was breathtaking, and the musicians playing 1800s compositions only added to the ambiance. Still, it was the joy of being in Toni’s arms that made Addie feel like swooning.
Parts of history are amazing; parts of modernity are, too.
The music paused as the song ended, and Toni released Addie. She bowed briefly. “Thank you, Adelaine.”
“For dancing?”
“For everything, love. The dance, the smiles, being in the show. You are a…” Toni shook her head. She looked incredibly serious, and Addie wished she knew what Toni was thinking. All else Toni said was “I am grateful.”
Impulsively, Addie leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Toni’s cheek. “I like you, too.”
Toni stared at her for a moment before cracking a smile. “Comeon. We have photos with fans next in the library, and then I can show you howmuchI like you.…”
By the time they’d retired for the night, Addie was fairly certain that she wasn’t the only one who would be a little heartbroken to return to their regular lives. She was struck with the fantasy of life in such a stunning setting, dancing in Toni’s arms, spending night and day together. Instead, she’d be returning to her tiny apartment on the other side of the country.
Far, far apart.
This togetherness with someone who made her smile was what Addie wanted for the rest of her life, and she was starting to think that she wanted it with Toni. That night, they spent as much time talking as touching, and the thought of leaving was obviously weighing on both of them.
“It would be nice if we lived closer together,” Addie said lightly at one point.
Toni paused. “I have to be in DC for teaching, and you need to be in LA for your job.”
“I know, but it would be nice to see you more often.”
“You’d get sick of me if we lived closer.” Toni squeezed her hand. “I’m more fun in small doses.”
