Zane blinked at her once, then laughed. “That’s incredible. They could have been made for the dress.”
“They were. I sent some scraps to the maker and asked if she could match it.” She had also paid more for the shoes than she’d ever paid for any item of clothing in her life, but the dress deserved that much, at least. “They arrived yesterday, and I am incredibly relieved they fit because I don’t know what I would have done if they didn’t.”
“We would have managed something,” Zane promised, but he was obviously delighted. “Shall we dress you?”
Nervous all over again, Vicki nodded and put her bags down, then unbuttoned her shirt, shivering it to the floor. She’d worn a more practical bra today than she often did—strapless, because the dress was, but otherwise ordinary in its coverage—but still wore stockings, because she liked them.
Zane made a delicious sound when she dropped her skirt. Voice deepening with interest, he said, “Or maybe you could just put those shoes on and we could go from there.”
The fairy tale wasn’t going to last, Vicki told herself, and stepped into the shoes.
Quite a lot later,after the dress had been tried on and the hem checked, and after they were back in their clothes, Zane put his arms around Vicki and groaned. “I have to go to the city tomorrow. I’ve got a half dozen other clients who’ll be at the ball who need their last-minute hand-holding. Come with me?”
“Tomorrow’s Friday,” Vicki pointed out, “and Iamthe substitute teacher. There isn’t anybody to come in and cover for me, especially on no notice.”
“What happens if you get a cold?”
“Elementary school teachers have caught all the colds already,” Vicki said with a note of genuine, if somewhat wry, doom in her voice. “I have the immune system of a tardigrade.”
“A…what…?”
“You know, those little bitty indestructible water bear thingies that live in deep sea volcanic vents and can survive the vacuum of outer space?”
“I do not know,” Zane said after a long moment. “My education is apparently lacking. But I’m glad you’ve got a strong immune system. And I know you can’t come with me tomorrow, but I wish you could. Do you want me to bring the dress down, or will you?”
“Oh, I will. I’m not letting it out of my sight. And I’m coming to your hotel, right?” Vicki gave a nervous laugh. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“A driver will pick you up at the airport,” Zane promised. “From the minute you get to the city, somebody will be spoiling you rotten and taking care of you the whole time. You’ll have a great time.”
“How do you do it? The red carpet? Without dying of terror, I mean?”
“Well, you get used to it, but you probably won’t have time for that. Mostly I concentrate on not blinking too much. The lights are really bright, and if you can not blink too much you look fairly composed. And you’ll be new, so you’re allowed to look excited and overwhelmed. Vicki…” He hesitated. “I think we should talk about what happens after the ball.”
She closed her eyes. “I know what happens. The fairy tale comes to an end.”
“What if I don’t want a fairy tale?” He offered a smile that turned to dismay as Vicki blanched. “No, I mean, what if I’m looking for the real thing?”
“Then we should get through the ball, first,” Vicki said weakly. “It’s too much right now, Zane. I can’t think about it all. All I can think about is tripping and falling on my face on those stairs.”
“A time-honored tradition,” Zane said gently. “You’ll be fine. Look, I have some surprises planned, is that going to be okay?”
“As long as you’re not going to propose on the red carpet, probably.”
“Oh my God, no! I’m not going to propose at all, but if I was, I wouldn’t do it there! That’s horrific!”
Vicki thought he maybe didn’t need to bequiteso firm about not proposing at all, even if it would be ridiculous for him to and he shouldn’t, when they’d only known each other three weeks. But still, somehow, his certainty that he wasn’t going to do that sort of stung.
Because humans were complicated, she told herself, and could hold different opinions and feelings on one thing, all at once. She mumbled, “Like an onion,” and Zane crinkled his face.
“Layers, huh? Sorry. I didn’t mean to be quite that, um, brutal, about the idea of proposing. I just think public proposals are awful and I can’t imagine doing that to somebody on a red carpet. Not unless they knew about it ahead of time.”
“Well, okay then.” Vicki softened. “Glad we’re on the same page about that. What time do you leave in the morning?”
Zane shuddered. “The flight’s at seven a.m., so I have to get up at about four to get to the airport in time. I’ll go back to the B&B tonight. There’s no reason for you to be woken up in the middle of the night like that.”
“Don’t take this wrong, but thank goodness.”
“No wrongness taken.” He stole a kiss, then reluctantly untangled. “I should go back and pack up, in fact. I’ll see you Saturday morning?”
