Page 7 of Fairy Tale Marriage

“But I notice that fellow behind us has rather intense blue eyes.”

A hint of warmth washed across her cheekbones. “Really?”

“Sure enough.” He maneuvered them in a tight circle to get a better look. “I admit I’m not the best judge, but he appears on the tall side, too. Not to mention broad-shouldered.”

“How interesting,” she murmured.

“Isn’t it?” August murmured. “Too bad his streaks are gray—”

“They are not gray!”

“No?” he asked innocently. “My mistake. Now if only we could discover if the poor man has chipped teeth.” Before she could protest, he swerved into the path of the oncoming couple. “Gee, didn’t see you folks,” he quickly apologized.

Chaz swung around and looked at them. For a breathless moment, Shayne was certain he’d recognized her. That he, too, felt the hot, sweet emotions that lingered, charging the air between them. But after subjecting her to a swift, impersonal examination, he turned his attention to August. “No damage done.”

“Hey. Is that a chipped tooth you have there?”

Chaz’s jaw locked and a warning glitter appeared in his eyes. “What if it is?”

“Amazing coincidence, wouldn’t you say, my dear?” he asked Shayne. “White streaks, blue eyes, chipped tooth. It’s downright magical.”

Chaz folded his arms across his chest—achest that seemed even broader than she remembered. “Buddy, you’re startin’ to rub me the wrong way. Maybe you should move on before you end up with a few chipped teeth of your own.”

“Right you are.”

He gave Shayne a surreptitious wink, captured Cleopatra in an enthusiastic embrace and half-dragged, half-danced her across the floor.

A silent moment passed while Shayne scrambled for something to say. Chaz's eyes behind his mask were every bit as piercing as she recalled and having them fixed so steadily on her didn't help her conversational skills.

“Mind telling me what that was all about?" he finally asked.

She fought to speak normally. “August was just trying to be helpful.”

“Helpful.”

“Yes. He asked me to describe the man I’d want to marry.” She shrugged, confessing with painful honesty, “I described you.”

“Why?”

“You remind me of someone I once knew.” Knew, and considered to be the perfect man. Had August sensed her feelings and decided to do a bit of matchmaking? Gratitude vied with nervousness. “When my friend saw you and made the connection, he took matters into his own hands.”

Chaz’s eyes narrowed. “Were you trying to blow him off? Is that why you described me?”

She sensed a harshness in him that hadn’t been there before, amolten core tamped under tight control. What would happen if that control ever slipped? She didn’t think she’d like to be around as a witness.

“I wasn’t lying to him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why describe me? It can’t just be my resemblance to this other man.”

The molten core splashed closer to the surface and Shayne realized she’d have to respond very, very carefully. “I thought we might be compatible.” They had been, once upon atime.

“What about me made you think that?”

Everything. Their past. The way he’d made love to her. The fact that he stood before her after all these years. “It’s just a feeling.”

The chill coming off him froze her out completely. “I don’t trust feelings.”

That alarmed her more than anything else he could have said. Had he changed so much? “What do you trust?”

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