Page 27 of Forbidden Passion
Pushing against his shoulders, she got him to step back, allowing her legs to lower to the ground. “Falk!” she snapped, pressing harder in order to break through the sexual haze.
He pulled back, staring down at her. She laughed at his passion-glazed eyes. “You’re fine,” she replied, patting his chest. “I can see that now.”
“No, I’m not!” he grumbled, but he finally looked around, suddenly noticing where they were. He sighed, grumbling something under his breath. “This is nuts.” He took her hand and started to pull her down the hallway.
“Falk, I can’t go with you!” she yelped, fighting against his grip.
He stopped and pulled her back into his arms. “Why the hell not?”
The tingling in her limbs was starting up again but she fought against it. “Because I was in the middle of helping Maggie and Astra with the party planning,” she told him.
“Excuse me?”
She ducked out of his arms and smoothed a hand down over her dress, then over her hair, ensuring that he hadn’t mussed up her appearance too badly. “We received word that you’d been hurt. The guards were talking about…you…and,” she blushed. “I have to go.”
She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. “And what?” he prompted, his voice husky because he knew what she’d been about to say.
“Nothing, Falk. You’re fine. I should have known better.”
Chapter 23
After returning to the meeting with Astra and Maggie, Ciara silently acknowledged that she’d made a complete fool of herself. Sitting back down in the damask covered chair she’d just recently…maybe not so recently…vacated, she tried valiantly to concentrate on the conversation.
However, she kept replaying the scene from the hallway in her mind. One moment, she was thinking about how she’d love to find Falk and finish what they’d started. The next moment, she was trying to anticipate his thoughts regarding her actions. Did he think she cared for him? Didn’t he know that she cared for everyone in the palace? Or was he remembering the time last year, when Zayed, Falk, and Ramit were racing their horses through the grounds, and Zayed had been accidentally kicked by a horse? She hadn’t raced to his rescue at that time. Instead, she’d teased him over dinner that evening along with the others around the table.
What had been different about today? She’d heard about Falk’s contretemps with one of Zayed’s staff member and…? Ciara glanced over at Tara, who was busily typing on a laptop at a nearby desk. She was a very diligent worker.
In that same moment, Tara looked up, the soft clicking of her fingernails against the keyboard pausing. Was the woman blushing? Tara was an exceptionally lovely woman. Why did she downplay her looks? The brown dress she wore made her skin look sallow. But there was no way to diminish the light in those striking green eyes.
So, what was going on between her and Zayed? The gossip earlier was that Falk had been about to punch Zayed when Tara had stepped in and flipped Falk over her shoulder.
Ciara pursed her lips, considering the scene from a different angle. Did Tara have feelings for Zayed? And more importantly, did Zayed have feelings for his pretty assistant?
If that were the case, why hadn’t Zayed broken off their betrothal and pursued Tara? She and Zayed had often talked about how there was no romantic interest between them. It was the main…or only…reason they hadn’t set a wedding date yet.
So…why hadn’t Zayed pursued Tara? Or was Tara the person that was slowing down any potential relationship?
Should Ciara formally end her betrothal with Zayed so that he would feel more comfortable pursing a relationship with Tara? She contemplated the possibility for a moment, thinking to speak with Zayed about it later.
But resolving that mystery only brought her thoughts back to Falk and her reaction to him earlier. Her response had been completely out of proportion. She shouldn’t have raced out of the room to make sure he wasn’t hurt. She’d revealed too much to everyone.
Including herself.
So why had she run to him? Why had she nearly screamed at the thought of Falk being hurt or wounded? What did the man mean to her?
“Ciara?” a soft voice called.
Ciara jerked her attention back to the present. Looking at Astra, then at Maggie, she knew that she’d been caught. The two ladies eyed her with carefully hidden amusement.
Sighing, Ciara slumped in her chair. “Okay, what did I miss?”
Astra laughed, then pushed the paper across the low table. “Maggie thinks that it is going to be too expensive to havefloating lights and balloons along the ballroom ceiling. But I think it would be a romantic next step to introduce her to the world. The attention would be on the ceiling and would take some of the pressure away from her.”
Ciara stared at the picture that Astra had drawn of the idea. It was just a rough sketch and, if someone had just said, “Let’s have balloons overhead at our party!”, Ciara would have rolled her eyes. Balloons weren’t really a palace-party décor. But what Astra had created was more like a fantasy world. The floating balloons and lights made the space appear to be more of a starlit night, but without the weather or security concerns of an actual outdoor event. It was absolutely brilliant!
She set the sketch down and turned to Maggie.
“It’s too much, isn’t it?”