Page 28 of Winter Wedding for the Prince

But Armando was persistent. Capturing her face in his hands, he forced her out of hiding. “Rosa, look at me,” he urged. “Look me in the eye. Do you see pity?”

Slowly, she lifted her lids. Armando was gazing at her with eyes blue and nonjudgmental. “I would sooner cut them out than look at you with anything less than admiration.”

“Little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Not in this case. What you did took courage, Rosa. Courage and strength. If anyone needs to fear judging, it’s me for not being worthy of your friendship.”

“You’ll always be worthy,” she whispered. This time, it was she who reached across the space to touch his face. His cheeks were rough with the start of an early beard. For some reason, the sensation aroused her, as if the whiskers were scratching inside her and not her skin. She wondered if her touch had shifted something inside him as well, because the blue began to take on different shades. What had been light was slowly growing dark and hooded.

“You’re wrong.”

Focused on the shifting of his eyes, Rosa nearly missed his words. “Wrong?”

“Thinking you’re not special. You couldn’t be more wrong. You’re smart, strong. Beautiful.” It’d been too long since someone had said such lovely words to her, and the way Armando said them was so sincere that Rosa melted with pleasure.

“I wasn’t looking for compliments,” she said.

“Not compliments. Truth.”

Rosa nearly sighed aloud at his answer. The moment must going to her head, she decided. Why else would she think Armando’s gaze had dropped to her mouth? Or long for him to move closer?

“We—” She started to say that they should say good-night, but her mind was distracted by the way Armando’s lips curled into a smile. He whispered something. It sounded like Fredo was an idiot, but she couldn’t be sure. Next thing she knew, those beautiful curved lips were pressed against hers.

Rosa’s breath caught.

Her heart stopped.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand slid to the curls at the back of his head. Sweet and lingering, it was a kiss worthy of a fairy tale. Only it was Armando whose lips were gently coaxing a response. Armando whose fingers trailed down her neck to caress the base of her throat.

A moment later, he pulled away, leaving her dazed and confused. What...?

“Mistletoe,” he said, pointing upward. “Be a shame to ignore tradition.”

Dazed and mute, Rosa simply nodded. Looking up, she saw nothing. If the mistletoe was there, it was hidden in shadows.

Armando lifted her hair off her shoulder, tucking it neatly to the base of her neck. His smile was enigmatic. There was emotion playing in the depths of his gaze, but what it was, Rosa couldn’t tell. She wasn’t used to seeing anything but sadness in his eyes, so perhaps it too was the shadows playing tricks.

In a way, she felt like the whole evening had been one giant illusion from the moment Armando knocked on her door. Everything had been too romantic, too close to perfect to be anything else. For five wonderful hours, he’d made her feel desirable and special. Like a princess. There was no way those feelings could last. As soon as she said good-night, reality would return.

The question was, would their relationship return to normal as well? Or would this newfound awareness continue to simmer inside her?

“It’s getting late,” Armando said. “We should get you home.”

And there it was—reality. Armando was already standing, a hand out to help her to her feet. Although she tried to fight it, desire pooled in the pit of Rosa’s stomach the moment his fingers closed around hers, answering her question.

“Are you all right?”

Naturally, he would notice and show concern. Her fantasy evening wouldn’t be complete otherwise.

“Everything’s perfect,” she replied. Except for one tiny problem, that was.

She’d just realized she was falling for him.

* * *

Armando called for the car to be brought around, then accompanied Rosa downstairs. Back in the bright light, he saw that the front of her hair had worked loose from its clip, the result of their kiss. The strands begged to be brushed away from her skin, and he had to clench his fists rather than give in to the temptation.

The driver was waiting when they stepped outside. Upon seeing them, he opened the door and snapped to attention. “Your Highness.” He sounded surprised.

“Just walking Rosa out,” Armando replied. For a second, he had the crazy idea of joining her on the ride, but steeled himself against that temptation as well. There was no telling what he might do pressed against her in the darkened backseat.

As it was, he had to go upstairs and make sure there really was mistletoe.

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