Page 17 of Welcome to Gothic
Wendy saw Hugh give in. All his defenses crumbled, he relaxed and set Hazel on his arm, as he started for the car.
“Fine.” Barefoot, Wendy limped behind them shining the light ahead to guide him. “Grab the cute guy, Hazel. You’ve got good instincts.”
Looking over Hugh’s shoulder, Hazel gloated with a large grin.
Chapter Nine
“Not a single person has mentioned the muddy hem on this fabulous dress.” As Wendy and Hugh danced across the hardwood floor in Maeve Lindholm’s magnificent great room, a soloist crooned the lyrics of “I’ll Be Seeing You”while a live big band played. Wendy looked into Hugh’s face and laughed with the sheer pleasure of being here, in his arms, and knowing Hazel was safe in her bed and they had saved her.
“Who would have the nerve? You rescued Maeve Lindholm’s daughter from her maniac cousin. You’re the woman of the hour.”
“Everyone knows it’s really you, hero man. In these days, no one believes the Amazon myth.” She mocked the times. “No one believes agirlcould have done saved that child.”
“Not true, stuntwoman. I’ve told every guy here you ripped Bill’s balls up over his ears.”
“You do like that line.” It gave her a warm feeling to know he thought she expressed herself well.
“Yes, especially since now they’re all afraid to ask you to dance.”
“Oh.” She looked around, realized no man in this magnificent ballroom dared look her in the eye. “You sneaky bastard!”
Hugh looked smug. “Thank you. One way or the other, I do like to hold the trophy—even if I have to cheat to get it.”
She was torn between indignation and laughter.
Laughter won.
He laughed, too, then danced them out of the bustling ballroom and onto the starlit veranda. “Do you believe in soul mates?”
“No. Never have.”
“Neither do I. Never have.”
A pause.
“How about now?” Hugh asked.
“Maybe now.”
He was teasing, she knew... but not really. Together, the two of them had begun to change their minds.
“Yes, I believe in soul mates, now.”
“Good. I didn’t want to go down the road alone.”
“We’re better when we work together to do the stunt, rescue the child...”
“Live a life?” he asked.
She put her head on his chest. “Yes.”
They danced slower, away from the lights of the ballroom, into a shadowy corner. She knew what was coming, and all of herself leaped toward the moment, the passion, the union. Hugh put his fingers under her chin, lifted her face toward his—corny move! Corny move! She lovedit!—and feathered his lips onto hers. Lightly, gently, brushing their mouths together until... she didn’t know what happened... the trapdoor opened, they fell into each other and some kind of electrical surge fused them together, mouths, bodies, souls.
When at last they separated, mostly to breathe, he murmured, “We just made a warm, secret, lifetime promise, didn’t we?”
“Oh, yes.” Wendy didn’t hesitate, which was so unlike her.It’s only a dream, she reminded herself.Such a shame.
Hugh’s mouth crooked up on a half smile. “So.” With his hand, he stroked the silk wrap off her head, then returned to caress her hair, her neck, her spine. “You were going to tell me the truth about yourself.”
