“I know,” Sol said, sticking out her bottom lip. “Hey, you think one of these plants can double up as a painkiller?”
“You might draw some attention if you start nibbling on the displays,” Naya said in a rare moment of levity.
“Take your time,” I added. “Nothing starts without you. People will wait.”
Sol squinted at something behind me. “Speaking of people waiting.”
I followed her gaze. Elliot stood by the entrance to the conservatory, his eyes roaming the gardens. Even at this distance, he electrified every cell in my body.
“Damn, that man is really wearing that tux,” Naya breathed. I could only agree.
Sol nudged me. “Why don’t you say hello?”
I blinked at her. “But I have to escort you through the carpet to the screening. And then the speeches …”
Sol smiled. “I’m having a few minutes here. You got time to say hello.”
“Are you sure?”
“Lucita.” Sol fixed me with a stern glare. “We’ll see you on the other side.”
“Fine, fine.” I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” I took a deep breath, then hitched up my skirt and ascended the flight of steps, ignoring the stabs of pain from the shoes.
Elliot caught sight of me as I reached the top, doing a visible double take. We met each other’s eyes and instantly nothing else mattered, only him. I could feel his eyes hungrily roving over me and my heart began to pound, harder and harder as I approached, so much so that when I finally stood before him, I was trembling.
“Hi.” I didn’t trust myself to say any more. Truth was, there were not enough words to describe how Elliot looked. He’d tried to neaten his wild mop of hair, but it still looked like he’d run his hands through it multiple times, giving him a rakish air that was both endearing and sexy. Although the tuxedo showed off the lines of his body to perfection, it also lent him an air of powerful sophistication that I’d never appreciated about him until now. Elliot looked like a man who would run the world one day.
Eyes fixed on mine, he raised my hand to his lips and grazed my knuckles with a kiss so loaded with promise I could barely breathe. “Hi.”
“Nice suit,” I joked, shakily.
“You …” He swallowed audibly, gestured at the dress. “Is this new?”
I slowly lifted a shoulder in affected nonchalance. “Like it?”
His breath hitched. “It’s bewitching.”
I’d never get tired of the way he looked at me. “I don’t think I’m ever going to take it off.”
“Trust me, you will,” he said with a smirk, and warmth pooled, deep in my body. It terrified me how much I wanted him.
One of the guards managing the door stepped forward. “I’m going to need you to keep moving.”
“Sorry, bud,” Elliot said. He tugged at my hand and pulled me close. “Shall we?”
I gripped his hand tightly, hoping the feeling of his skin against mine would anchor me to the moment; whatever happened to Elliot and me, I didn’t want to forget tonight. We walked towards the doors, but the feeling was returning to my feet, and it felt like I was walking on pebbles. “You may need to carry me,” I said. “These shoes are doubling up as torture devices.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Elliot lowered his head to murmur in my ear. “I intend to have you off your feet at the earliest opportunity.”
We stepped through the conservatory doors and were instantly hit with a wave of humidity as we walked through a towering archway of greenery, shot through with trailing vines and flower buds. The air was thick with the most incredible perfume, deep and exotic. We followed the carpet throughthe hothouse, at every turn a new, brightly colored flower to marvel at. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in your life?” I said.
“Never.” Elliot’s voice was oddly quiet, and I glanced up to see him looking at me.
I blushed hotly. “Eyes on the road or you’ll fall in that pond up there.”
“Worth it,” he said.
We followed the red carpet into a second, smaller room of the conservatory, where it split to encircle a long, narrow pond that had been lit to look as though the water was blood red. The ceiling was covered with trailing vines that dangled down, some loaded with bright red berries, others with little orange-lantern blossoms. They may well have been deadly, but along with the carpet and the red pond, they created the illusion of a beautiful inferno. Elliot and I moved apart, to walk either side of the water. And although I should have been watching my step, taking in the stunning floral displays, I only had eyes for the man walking mere feet away. It didn’t seem real that in just a couple of days, I would be leaving this country with no idea if or when I’d be back. There were many reasons that returning home was the right thing to do, but right in front of me was the biggest reason of all to stay, and I felt as if I were being pulled in two. How on earth was I going to do it? When he and I reunited the other side of the pond, he cupped my face in both hands, seemingly oblivious to the other guests. Just a few short weeks ago, Elliot Fox had been the thorn in my side and now, to my complete surprise, he was the one person I wasn’t sure I could do without.
