Miracle On 5th Avenue (From Manhattan with Love 3)

“Don’t waste your time. I won’t talk to her.”

“Because you’re scared.”

“Fine, I’m scared. Is that what you want to hear? I’m so scared I’m thinking of staying here.”

“You said ‘fine.’ And you can’t stay here. We had a deal, Blade.”

“You’re a sadist.”

She covered his lips with the tips of her fingers. “Quiet.”

All it would take was the slightest movement of his lips and her fingers would be in his mouth.

He lifted his hand and closed his fingers around hers. “Why are we talking about me when tonight is all about you?”

She seemed to be barely breathing. Her fingers shook slightly in his.

He’d had no idea there could be so much tension between two people who weren’t even looking at each other.

Gently she eased her hand away. “You’re right. Tonight is all about me, and we should go.” Her voice was bright and she kept her eyes away from his. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime evening. I don’t want to miss a single moment. It’s going to be amazing.”

A once-in-a-lifetime evening where he got to watch her flirt with other men.

Lucas reached for his jacket, wondering how in hell that was going to be amazing.

* * *

The Plaza hotel was decorated like a snow palace, complete with towering ice sculptures lit by a dazzle of fairy lights.

It was like entering a grotto. Sensing that Lucas was about to turn around and walk out, Eva quickly handed her coat to a waiting attendant.

“It’s like something from Narnia, although it’s funny to think they’re using fake snow when there is so much of the real stuff right outside the door.”

“I guess they didn’t want the gray slush or the inconvenience of ice and cold.”

To anyone listening, their conversation would have sounded comfortable, as if they’d had a thousand similar exchanges over the course of their relationship. What wouldn’t be so easy to detect would be the undercurrent of tension that had simmered between them since that shared moment in the apartment. They were dancing around each other and it wasn’t the sort of dancing she’d had in mind.

In the end Eva had chosen to pretend it hadn’t happened. That nothing had changed.

Nothing had changed, had it? They’d had a moment, that was all. And it wasn’t the first time.

She walked through the doors into the ballroom, noticing the way heads turned toward Lucas. Despite his reluctance to attend, he looked more the part than anyone else in the room.

She felt a deep ache in her chest. She couldn’t afford to want what she couldn’t have.

“All right.” She injected enthusiasm into her voice. “We should separate.”

Lucas turned, his gaze intense and unsmiling. “Separate?”

“If people think I’m with you, no one is going to ask me to dance, let alone anything else.” She saw his mouth tighten.

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Lucas, you have to leave me alone. That’s the idea.”

“This place is a meat market.”

“I hope not, because I’m vegetarian.” She glanced at him, wondering if any man had ever looked this good in a dinner jacket. He was temptation in a tux. “Would you smile? You look as if I’ve dragged you to the dentist.”