When he glanced over at where Ceci had been sitting, he noticed she was gone. Just then his phone rang.
Athos.
He stood up and walked down the hallway.
“Hi, Athos.”
“You’re coming?”
He ducked into what looked like a small sitting room with a sofa and a couple chairs.
“Yes, I’ve already told you I’m coming.”
“Let me hear you say it in a complete sentence, including the name.”
“Are you recording me? If I don’t show up, are you going to use it against me?”
“What do you mean if you don’t show up? You just said you’re coming.”
Clarke groaned. “Fine. I will be there at the Grouse Gathering next weekend.”
“For the entire weekend?”
“Yes, for the entire weekend.”
After pizza, gelato, and more work on their video game, the girls fell fast asleep curled up with Boudica and Holly. Clarke gingerly disengaged the whippet from the human-dog pretzel they’d formed, taking care not to wake them.
He and Holly followed Ceci to the door. But when she grabbed the doorknob, he reached around and placed his hand on hers. Leaning down, he murmured in her ear.
“I know what you were trying to do tonight, but it won’t work. This was not a date. It’s my turn to choose what we do. And much as I enjoy the company of Rocco’s two adorable nieces, this tonight was not of my choosing, which means I’ll be over tomorrow night to pick you up at eight p.m. And don’t say you won’t be here. I happen to know that you, like me, are staying another night.”
He removed his hand, she opened the door, and he stepped out into the hallway. He was about to walk away but paused.
Fuck it.
He turned around and bowed.
“Goodnight, fair lady. May the stars watch over thee as thou dost rest this night, and may your dreams be as sweet as the moon’s gentle glow. I shall look forward to having the honor of your company again tomorrow eve. Though I sense you may not share in my enthusiasm, fear not, I shall endeavor to keep my eagerness in check. Until then.”
The only response he got was a pair of crossed arms, a jaw that looked like it was made of granite, and those eyes—two squally, gray harbingers of a storm on the brink of the horizon and about to break.
He pivoted and sauntered down the hallway. He wasn’t wearing a cape, but if he was, this would be the moment he threw it over his shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ceci
Ceci sat alone as Clarke posed for a photo with some fans at another table in the restaurant.
Was she sorry her ploy with Rocco’s nieces hadn’t succeeded in getting her out of this date tonight?
Not really.
But why did Rocco’s nieces have to bring up all that crap about knights?
Okay, so she dreamt about the man. But when she did, they were dancing or racing karts. There were some kisses, but they were chaste and the dream always ended before anything else could happen. But last night when she’d dreamt of him it didn’t end. What’s more, everything had gotten twisted around. It wasn’t like it had been in the men’s room of the Royal Horseguards Hotel. She wasn’t Prince Charming and he wasn’t Sleeping Beauty. The roles had been reversed. She wasn’t reviving him. He was reviving her. And it wasn’t just kissing he used as a means to bring her back to life. It was all sorts of things. Things she shouldn’t be thinking of now as she watched another group of fans drag him over to their table for a photo.
It was in the low sixties outside and she was wearing a halter dress, leaving her arms bare. Shouldn’t she be cold? The temperature was dipping lower out there, but in here, inher,it was rising. She ran a finger over the beads of sweat above her lip.
