Alexandra rested in one of the many Queen Anne style armchairs set in small groupings around the perimeter of the ballroom. Space had been left in the center of the floor for dancing. She was looking forward to being in Dimitri’s arms.
“I guess he’s not such a swine after all.”
Alexandra smiled as her sister took the chair closest to her. “Hi, Maddy. Isn’t this fabulous?” she asked, waving her hand to encompass the reception and its elegant guests. She was feeling incredibly happy for a woman who had just entered a marriage of convenience. It was all Dimitri’s doing. “Can you believe the wedding?”
Madeleine grinned. “Believe it? I lived it. I was your matron of honor, after all. The horse drawn carriages were a very sweet touch. There were so many red and white poinsettias and that gorgeous Christmas greenery in the church, you couldn’t see the pews.”
“He did everything possible to make it special. He kept asking if there was anything else I wanted all week long, making sure my every fantasy of my wedding was fulfilled.”
“And why should it not be?” Dimitri asked from behind her. He came to her side and rested his hand on the skin of her shoulder bared by the dropped shoulder neckline of her wedding dress. “You will only marry once. It should be the wedding of your dreams.”
She tilted her head to smile up at him. “It has been.”
He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “I am glad, yineka mou. That was my only wish.”
If she didn’t know better, she’d say he sounded like a man in love. Even if he wasn’t, he had to care about her a lot to have gone to so much trouble to see her happy.
“Making calf’s eyes at each other again?” A man who could have been Dimitri’s twin, but for his obvious younger age and dark brown eyes, slapped Dimitri on the back. “There will be plenty of time for that later.”
Dimitri’s hand on her shoulder tightened briefly in a reassuring gesture as if he could sense her unease.
“I do not make calf’s eyes,” he informed his brother.
Spiros smiled mockingly. “If you say so.”
Phoebe, a beautiful woman with classic Greek features and an air of youthful innocence, laughed. “Do not tease your brother. A man is allowed to look pleased with his bride on his wedding day.”
Remembering the picture she’d seen of Spiros and Phoebe’s wedding day, Alexandra thought Phoebe must be intimately acquainted with the concept and said so.
Phoebe blushed sweetly while Spiros put his arm around her shoulder in a possessive manner. “This is true,” he said.
Alexandra smiled. At least her pregnancy hadn’t ruined their lives. They were obviously very happy to be married to each other. She couldn’t help wondering what the Petronides family had been thinking to match a girl of Phoebe’s gentle nature and obvious youth with an overwhelming man like Dimitri in the first place.
“It’s not just reserved for the wedding day, you know. I’m still making calf’s eyes at my wife,” Hunter said as he joined the group, taking the chair closest to Madeleine.
Madeleine’s air of complacent acceptance of such an accolade indicated whatever contretemps Alexandra’s problems had caused in their marriage was well and truly over.
Alexandra looked up at Dimitri. She was not at all convinced he’d been looking at her with anything near the adoring glance her brother-in-law bestowed upon her sister. However, she was willing to tease him regardless. “So I can look forward to years of bovine expressions of affection?”
He stiffened with affront just as she’d expected him to do. “I am not a cow.”#p#分页标题#e#
She smiled, feeling mischievous. “No indeed. If anything, you must be likened to a bull.” She rubbed her protruding middle and felt their son move. “I would say that he is proof positive you are a male capable of breeding.”
After a second of shocked silence, during which the entire group seemed to assimilate her rather risqué teasing, they all burst out laughing, including Dimitri. There were a few more teasing comments and Madeleine even went so far as to welcome Dimitri into the family which he thanked her for with grave appreciation rather than his usual arrogance.
After which, he leaned toward Alexandra and asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“We haven’t danced yet.” And she wanted to.
He smiled indulgently. “And we must do this to fulfill tradition, hmm?”
She nodded, loving the look of indulgence in his eyes. It made her feel cosseted.
He reached out his hand and led her to the middle of the ballroom floor, empty but for a few guests who stood in small groups chatting. Their presence on the dance floor was the orchestra’s cue to move into a slow waltzing tune.