I tugged a few times at my skirt, still giggling. It wouldn’t come loose. I had to give mad respect to the designer, because this thing was sturdy. I worried about ripping the dress completely. It didn’t belong to me. Would the show charge me if I came back with the skirt all shredded? I could possibly fix or explain one hole, but an irreparable tear was a different story.
Then I tried pulling my legs up higher, but I wasn’t strong enough. I was so stuck. I laughed again.
“May I be of assistance?”
I looked over my shoulder to see Dante standing there. He had undone his bow tie and the first few buttons on his tuxedo shirt. He seemed both amused and concerned.
“Yes, I could definitely use some help.”
He took off his jacket and scaled the fence much more easily than I had. I hoped I wasn’t flashing him, but he didn’t even look. He easily lifted the dress up, with me still in it, over the spikes. He used just one hand. I couldn’t help but be impressed. Finally free, I regained my footing. The iron felt cold and rough against my feet.
“Thank you!” I said. He had possibly just saved me thousands of dollars.
“My pleasure,” he said. There was a heat in his eyes that I hadn’t noticed earlier. It made my skin tingle with delight.
“Race you down?” I asked. He smiled, and my heart sped up in response to it. He had a breathtaking smile.
“What do I get when I beat you?”
“What makes you think you’ll beat me?” I said, trying not to laugh again. Something about him made me feel even happier than normal.
His response was to scale down a few feet and then jump the rest of the way. “That’s what makes me think I’ll beat you.”
“Cheating?” I responded.
“It’s not cheating. Just superior climbing skills.”
“When you save a damsel in distress, you’re not supposed to leave her behind,” I teased him.
He put his hands back on the bars, obviously intending to climb back up.
“No!” I called down to him. “I was kidding.” I tried not to laugh, seeing the annoyed expression on his face. He seemed to take the jab at his honor very seriously.
I carefully climbed back down, and he stood respectfully off to one side, but still within arm’s reach to catch me if I fell. It wasn’t necessary, but it was sweet. When I got down I grabbed my heels and held on to the fence while I slipped them back on. I inspected the new hole in my dress. I had a small sewing kit in my suitcase. “Maybe I can stitch it up without them noticing,” I murmured.
When I glanced up at Dante, I realized that he was studying me with a serious look in his eyes. There was a sadness there that I hadn’t noticed earlier. It made me want to hug him and make everything better. “You were laughing.”
“What?” I laughed a lot. That wasn’t very descriptive, so I tried to clarify. “When?”
“When I found you. You were laughing.” He said this like it confused him and he didn’t understand.
I shrugged. “I was laughing because it was funny. You have to admit that what just happened was pretty funny.”
A smile played at the edge of his lips. “It was, but I’m too much of a gentleman to say so.”
That made me want to laugh again, but I just grinned at him instead.
“Is this situation so terrible that you were trying to escape?” He gestured toward the fence.
“My mom always used to say you can’t fight the moonlight. That being outside under a full moon makes you do things like scale fences because you thought you smelled horses. I’ll let you in on a little secret.” I leaned forward, and he did the same. I was struck by how distinctive and tempting his cologne was. “Sometimes I like horses better than people.”
“Sometimes I do too,” he said in a whispery voice that made little thrill bumps pop up all over my exposed flesh. “But there aren’t any horses here, which is why the gate was locked.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing. “I was kind of hoping I’d get to go riding. I haven’t done it in a long time.”
Then my stomach rumbled so loudly that there was no way for either of us to pretend it hadn’t happened. I laughed again, and this time he joined me.
“Hungry?”
“Very. But I’m not willing to face the horde of raving lunatics inside to forage for food.”
He reached inside of his tuxedo jacket, which he’d put back on after he climbed down. He brought out something wrapped up in napkins, and opened the wrapping to reveal two large chocolate chip cookies. He offered them to me.
I took one, leaving the other for him. “So, you always walk around with cookies in your pocket just in case?”