"I was. But only for the day. Yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Omar sat up. He angled his forearm to see his watch in the candlelight.
The two of them had talked all night and into the next day. And yet, Lark felt not an ounce of tiredness.
"You haven't brought a girl home in a long time," said Alana.
Lark felt pleased with that.
"And you are both still fully clothed,” Alana continued. "I'm intrigued."
Lark stuck out her hand. "I'm Lark."
Alana ignored her hand and grinned a very familiar grin. “I know you are."
Alana slid a sly glance to her brother. Omar made a face that only a brother could give a sister when he wanted her to keep her mouth shut.
"Good to meet you.” Alana took Lark’s hand then. “I can't wait to see your show."
"I have an early morning meeting," Omar said, breaking the two apart and ushering Lark out of the room. "I can just make it if we leave now.”
The copter ride was just as dazzling during the day as it had been at night. But the blades of the metal bird couldn’t lift Lark any higher than the last kiss Omar gave her before he stepped out of the town car.
As he walked into the building, Lark saw his assistant come up the street. Marlena carried a tray of coffee cups in her hand. Her gaze went between her boss’ back as he went into the building, and Lark as she rested her elbows on the open car door window.
“Good morning, Marlena,” Lark said. There was no sense in hiding from his assistant. Besides, the two of them would likely be seeing a lot of each other under the circumstances. Lark might as well make a friend of the woman.
Marlena curled her lip and tilted up her nose. “It’s nearly noon.”
So, they wouldn’t be besties. Okay. Lark knew it was best to nip this attitude in the bud so they could at least have a good working relationship.
“Marlena, is there something you want to say to me?"
"It's not worth it. I have far too much work to do than to give you a woman's liberation lesson."
The personal assistant didn’t give the former magician’s assistant a chance to make her case, which was that Lark didn’t get her deal by laying on her back. She’d worked for her shot. She just so happened to trip up and fall for her boss.
But it was too late. Marlena had already turned on her sensible shoes and was headed into the building on a high horse.
Chapter Fifteen
As a member of the wedding party, Omar was on duty for hours before he had time to play. Hours had passed, and yet, here he was, still on duty, trying to wrangle the groomzilla better known to his unwitting subjects as the King of Córdoba.
“The knot of this tie is crooked.”
“No, it’s straight,” said Omar. “Daniel already measured it with a ruler.”
“Well, it’s gone crooked since then.” Leo undid the knot for the twentieth time and began meticulously retying it.
His groomsmen left him to it. Better he stayed occupied with the tie than take another peek out into the cathedral. Already, he’d complained that the lighting was too dim in the ancient building which was mainly lit by sunlight filtering through the stained glass windows.
Oh, and those windows? Leo felt the colors they’d been stained with hundreds of years ago were far too spring-like for his fall wedding. His Majesty gave a blank stare when he was told there was nothing to be done about it. That’s when Omar had pointed out the crookedness of his tie.
“Is this a spot on my vest?” Leo asked, pinching the fabric of his jacket where a nonexistent spot lay.
But Omar was no longer paying attention to his monster of a best friend. His gaze had turned to the hall filling with people. One person in particular.
Lark was a vision in lilac. The light fabric hung from her shoulders like petals, softly blowing in the breeze. Her skirts pooled around her shapely stem-like legs, swaying with each of her steps. That confirmed it. The woman truly was a magical fairy.