Now wasn’t the time to ask. So Reyn turned to Jianna and fluttered her lashes once more, making the other woman laugh even harder.
“I’m late once, and I find you flirting with Lady Jianna?”
Reyn looked over at Velario, surprised he had approached without anyone in the group noticing him. She was even more surprised he had made it into the ballroom at all without her noticing. She had tried to keep an eye out for him.
She smiled, the expression coming naturally to her lips. “Once? In my mind, not coming at all counts the same as being late. If you don’t want me to flirt with Lady Jianna, then you need to be present to distract me.”
A week ago, when they had first started this ruse, Reyn might have said the words in irritation. If he wanted her help, then he had to do his part. But she knew he really was doing everything he could. If he couldn’t make it to the ball any earlier, if he missed other events, then he had a reason. Not that he had ever skipped an engagement he had agreed to. He simply didn’t agree to many in the evenings.
So Reyn wasn’t irritated. She said the words as nothing more than a tease.
And Velario responded the same way, the mock irritation in his voice nowhere to be seen in his eyes. “So fickle and demanding. Lady Jianna, don’t be fooled; Reyn will forget about you the moment you leave her sight.”
He snaked an arm around Reyn’s waist, pulling her against his side.
She nestled closer. “I’ve already forgotten her, Velario.”
“Fickle indeed,” Jianna said. “You’ll have to work extra hard to keep her interest, Lord Velario.”
“He always works hard.” Reyn patted one hand against his chest. “That is the problem.”
“Fine,” Velario groused. “You win. I’ll dance the next set with you.”
Reyn turned and winked at Lady Jianna. “And I didn’t even have to flutter my lashes.”
Velario led Reynout to the dance floor, already missing holding her against his side. The past week had been torture as they enacted their ruse—not because he had to pretend to like her, but because he found he did like her more than he expected. He especially enjoyed having her pressed up against him.
It was madness. It felt so natural to hold her close, and she responded without hesitation; he had to remind himself it was just an act. He was acting. She was acting. None of their courtship was real.
His physical attraction, however, was painfully real. He had felt that pull toward Reyn from the first moment he heard her speak, but now that he knew she was not the flibbertigibbet he had first thought, it was harder to fight that attraction.
“You didn’t have to ask me to dance, you know,” Reyn informed him with a roll of her eyes.
Velario refocused on his surroundings and not the loss he felt with Reyn standing across from him instead of tucked against his side. “What?”
“Dancing. We didn’t have to dance if you hate it so much.”
The song started, and they began to move. “Who said I hate dancing?”
“Your expression when we took our places. The fact that you avoid balls.”
“I don’t avoid balls. Things have been hectic lately, and if I can only make it out a couple evenings, a ball wouldn’t be my first pick, but I don’t hate them. And I don’t hate dancing.” Especially with Reyn.
“So, what was your expression about when we took our spots?”
Velario would not tell her he had been thinking about how he immediately missed having her close. “I was just thinking about everything going on at the bank. One issue is taking up so much of my time that I’m neglecting other things. And we haven’t even made actual progress on that one issue.”
“I have something to share with you from Jianna, but you have to stop looking so dour first. People are going to wonder what is going on if you don’t smile soon. We’re dancing, Vel.”
“I take it this news will not bring a smile to my lips?”
“No.”
Velario took a moment to appreciate the feel of Reyn’s hand in his, his arm at her waist, the way they glided across the floor. He smiled. “Alright, tell me.”
“There are rumors going around about us—about you, really.”
“Of course there are.” Velario would be far more surprised to hear they weren’t a topic of conversation among all the Forty Families.
