More Than Words(65)

He looked over at her and smiled. “No need to apologize,” he said.

She wondered if his heartbeat was speeding up, too. The vibrations of his voice echoed deep inside her, as if it were set at the same frequency as her muscles and bones. God, she needed to leave this room, too. Nowhere was safe.

“Is it time for me to go on yet?” he asked.

Nina shook her head. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Clearing her throat, she said, “About another fifteen minutes. And—I’m sorry again I wasn’t able to come by on Thursday. But it’s probably for the best.”

“Probably,” he echoed. His eyes traced her bare neck and shoulders, before catching her gaze.

All she wanted to do was touch him. “I should head back,” she told him. “But I’ll see you in there. There’s a decent crowd.”

Rafael nodded. “Thank you again,” he said. “For doing this.”

“Of course,” she answered softly.

As Nina walked back toward the ballroom, she ran into Caro in the hallway. “The campaign staff has been looking for you,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

Nina felt heat rise to her cheeks and put her hands on her face. “I was just talking to Rafael,” she said. “Giving him a fifteen-minute warning.”

“Darling,” Caro said, her eyes on Nina’s cheeks, clearly noticing her blush, “be careful. You know, I have a Twitter account, too.”

Nina’s blush deepened. “I should go find Jane,” she said.





60



After speeches were given—both Nina’s and Rafael’s—and dessert had been served, Nina took a moment to sit down with Pris and Hayley.

“We’re really the grown-ups now,” Hayley was musing as she rolled the stem of her wineglass between her fingers.

“What do you mean?” Pris asked.

“I mean we’re doing what our parents used to do. All of us. I didn’t realize until I saw you up there”—she looked at Nina—“but we’ve taken over. It’s our turn now.”

Nina looked around at the room. Hayley wasn’t wrong. Some of her father’s friends had come, but it was mostly people her age—hers and Tim’s.

“We have grown up,” Nina said, leaning back in her chair.

Pris opened her mouth to respond but then focused on something behind Nina—her eyebrows raised. Nina turned around and immediately stood. Tim and Rafael were walking out the door of the ballroom together. She followed as quickly as she could in her heels. Rafael’s bodyman was already there by the time she made it to the door frame, just out of view.

“—man to man,” Tim was saying, in the hallway. “She’s with me.”

“Pardon?” Rafael said, with a quiet intensity. Nina wanted to stop them, but she was frozen, riveted.

“I saw how you look at her,” Tim said. “I know we don’t know each other, but if you’re going to travel in these circles, other men’s women are off-limits.”

If you’re going to travel in these circles? Other men’s women? This didn’t even sound like Tim. She was embarrassed. Of him. For him.

Everyone in the corner of the ballroom closest to the door had stopped talking and was trying to see what was happening.

Nina cleared her throat. “What’s going on here?” she asked, stepping forward. Tim turned, surprised to find her standing there. She could see from his eyes, how they weren’t quite focused, that he’d had one drink too many. And likely a conversation with Eric Lancer. He’d been a bad influence on Tim since lower school. If you’re going to travel in these circles was absolutely something he would say.

“He keeps looking at you,” Tim said, gesturing to Rafael. “I told him to stop. He can’t look at you like that.”

Nina looked at Rafael. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why are you apologizing to him?” Tim asked. “He should be apologizing to you. And to me.”

He turned back to Rafael just as Caro appeared at Nina’s elbow. “Timothy,” she said. “Come with me. Now.”

As she led him down the hallway, Nina turned around and walked back into the ballroom. The guests were silently watching her. She plastered a smile on her face. “Well, that was quite a show!” she said. “When you tell your friends about it, please don’t forget to mention what a lovely dress I was wearing.”

A few people laughed, and then a few more, and then conversation started up again. Rafael turned to Nina. “I wasn’t expecting that tonight,” he said.

“Me neither,” Nina replied. “I really am sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for him,” Rafael told her. Then he leaned a little closer and whispered, “And he’s not wrong. I can’t take my eyes off you.” Nina blushed again, and Rafael smiled. “I’d still love the rest of your thoughts on my new stump speech,” he said.

“I . . . I don’t know,” Nina said.

Rafael nodded. “It’s okay. I understand. Thank you again . . . for tonight, I mean.”

After he left the ballroom, Nina did, too. She needed to find Tim. And Caro. After asking a few people on the staff, she located them both in the bridal suite, where Tim was sitting silently with a cup of coffee in front of him.