Page 49 of Gabriela and His Grace

Sebastian dared to run his thumb over the back of her knuckles. “And have I not earned them?”

Gabriela’s brows rose, and she stared up at him for a fraught second. Then her pink tongue darted out and ran across her bottom lip, and—

“Gabby, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

They stumbled apart as if they’d been burned. Sebastian reached out to steady her, but Gabriela pulled away, and his arms dropped to his sides. He watched in a daze as she turned to converse with her sister, the color high in her cheeks. It took him an embarrassingly long moment to understand that Sirius now stood at his side.

“You look like someone just punched you in the face,” his friend said, staring at Sebastian intently.

“I’m sure there are many who would relish the opportunity to do so.” Sebastian scrubbed a hand over his chin. “I’m just a little knackered after that dance.”

“Juan, the groom, said you and Gabby danced el jarabe tapatío.” Sirius clicked his tongue. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

Sebastian snorted. “I’m sure you are. Have you ever danced it?”

“Lord, no.” Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. “I have no qualms with leading Isabel out for a waltz or a minuet. Even a Scots reel. But Mexican dances are for people with more rhythm than me.”

“Well, my mother worked to ensure that I didn’t trip over my own feet when I stepped onto a dance floor, so I hope I didn’t look too ridiculous.” At that moment, Gabriela threw back her head to laugh at something Isabel said. Sebastian’s gaze lingered on her. “Thankfully, I had a graceful partner.”

“Yes, it seemed you two were quite…absorbed with one another.”

Sebastian looked at his friend askance. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means?” Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at him with a smirk.

Spinning on his heel, Sebastian stalked toward the Ortiz villa. “I have no interest in playing guessing games with you.”

“Don’t leave.” His friend yanked on his arm. “Christ, Sebastian, you have no problem teasing others, but heaven forfend others tease you in turn.”

Tugging his arm away, Sebastian smoothed his palms over his sleeves and then his lapels. Sirius was not wrong, and yet he couldn’t possibly exchange lighthearted banter when his whole body felt as if it were vibrating like a tuning fork. That damn dance had changed how he looked at Gabriela Luna—no, that wasn’t true. This whole blasted trip to Mexico had done that. It had thrust her from the “lovely but shrewish and completely unavailable” category he’d long ago placed her in, to a woman he surprisingly understood and sympathized with. Whom he desired, not just for her stunning beauty, but because she made him feel needed. For while she was defending everyone else, whom did she turn to when her sword grew dull?

“Is everything all right?” Sirius asked, his brows pulled low. “Isabel and I saw Gabby dashing out of the gathering, and she appeared upset. And now we’ve found the two of you together, and you’re as prickly as a cactus.”

Was everything all right? No, it bloody hell wasn’t. And yet Sebastian had no desire to tell his friend how Gabriela Luna had knocked him off his feet again and again. Instead he cleared his throat, and said, “Miss Luna overheard unkind remarks from her father, and was understandably upset. I like to think that making a fool of myself dancing the tapatío has improved her mood.”

If the smile brightening Gabriela’s face now as she chatted with Isabel was any indication, it had helped a little. And that damn smile made Sebastian’s chest a tad lighter.

“That man,” Sirius growled, swiping a hand over his brow as he stared at the sisters. “Well, whatever you did or said appears to have worked, although let’s hope no one has anything to say about the two of you being alone here.”

Sebastian scowled. “We’re hardly alone.” He emphasized his point by waving a hand at the surrounding crowd and even Juan, who stood nearby.

“Propriety is just as valued here as it is in London.” Before Sebastian could argue, Sirius jerked his thumb at his wife. “Isabel wanted to visit the book peddler. He only comes through San Luis Potosí every few months.”

Sebastian blinked, embarrassed he had been woolgathering about Gabriela when his friend was speaking to him. Clearing his throat, he murmured, “A welcome visitor, I’m sure.”

“Indeed. So I’m going to escort her and Gabby there.” Sirius inclined his head. “Did you want to meet us at the villa?”

He hesitated. Sebastian knew he should return to the safety of the Ortiz gathering, yet he didn’t move. Locking his teeth together, Sebastian slid his gaze to Gabriela at just the moment she glanced at him. Their eyes held, and while Sebastian could read nothing of her thoughts in her stare, he found himself shaking his head.

“I’ll accompany you,” he said shortly.

14

When Gabby fluttered her eyes open, it took her a moment to remember where she was. For a fortnight she’d awoken in her parents’ villa, yet Gabby continued to experience the same confusion, because it did not feel like home.

Stretching her arms overhead, she sat up and rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. Dropping her hands, she slowly focused on the painting on the wall. It depicted La Virgen de Guadalupe when she appeared to Juan Diego and asked him, in Nahuatl, to have a church erected on the spot where they stood. Gabby knew for a fact that this was not the only painting of La Virgen in the house, but this particular one had always been her favorite because depictions of the four apparitions were included. As a child, she used to imagine the cherubs, who frolicked along the border, their reverent eyes turned upon Mary, were her friends. Her youthful thoughts made her laugh now, almost as much as they made her want to cry.

A maid had left a tray with chocolate and a pan dulce on a side table, and Gabby smiled as she padded to it. Taking the cup of chocolate in hand, she wandered to the window and pushed the curtain aside. From this angle, she could just make out the table on the terrace where her father sat every morning to read reports and the latest news. However, he was not there now, and Gabby remembered that he would be meeting with Presidente Juárez to discuss the latest news from the siege of Querétaro. She was relieved she would not have to tiptoe around him, as she had been since the start of her stay. A stay she had felt forced into, if only to escape her own roiling emotions.