Luke must have been watching for her, because when she got out of the cab in front of the Venetian, he was right there. “Thanks for coming. No Harley?”
“I was ready to let someone else drive.”
Sympathy flashed in his eyes. “You really are pooped, aren’t you?”
“I am, but my curiosity got the better of me.”
“You understand it’s a water ride, right?”
“Yep.”
“And you’re willing to risk it, knowing that Bryce has cooked up something special?”
She decided to be as honest as possible. “I tried to talk myself out of meeting you here, but I couldn’t stand the idea of not knowing firsthand what they’ve come up with now.”
His boyish grin flashed. “Let’s go check out the gondola rides.” And he took her hand.
She could have pulled away, but the simple fact was she didn’t want to. Holding his hand earlier tonight had been a pleasure. She would go back to Illusions after this, so she told herself she could allow herself to hold his hand now.
As they started into the building, a young guy who looked to be around twenty stepped forward. “Are you Luke Dalton and Giselle Landry?”
Luke glanced at Giselle and she gave him a thumbs-up. They were here now, so they might as well see what happened next.
“Yes, we are,” Luke said.
“Then come with me. Someone has paid an obscene amount of money for you to have a custom gondola ride.”
“Wait a minute.” Luke caught his arm. “How custom? Are we going to get wet?”
“How would you get wet?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Luke said. “The boat capsizes, or sinks, something like that.”
The guy shook his head and smiled. “Not gonna happen. I think the custom part is that you go to the head of the line, and the gondolier has agreed to sing something special for you.” He looked at them with a twinkle in his eyes. “Special night for you two, maybe?”
“Yes,” Giselle said. “Very special.” She enjoyed the shock in Luke’s expression. “He just popped the question.”
“Excellent!” The kid beamed at them. “Congratulations! We love romance at the Venetian. Right this way. I’ll take you to your gondola.”
“What question?” Luke asked as they followed the guy at a brisk pace. “I didn’t pop any question.”
She lowered her voice. “Yes, you did. You asked if I was ready to risk a water ride with you.”
“Yeah, but that was a question, not the question. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Relax. I have no interest in a trip down the aisle. But that kid was expecting something, so I played along.” Pretending to be his engaged girlfriend might not be the wisest thing she’d ever done, but again, it seemed like a harmless bit of silliness and it made the gondola folks happy.
A little voice in the back of her mind taunted her with the possibility that she was acting out a fantasy of her own by masquerading as Luke’s one-and-only. So what if she was? It was just a water ride, over in a few minutes. It didn’t matter.
Much as Luke chafed under the constraints of this game Cynthia was playing, it had its rewards. The lure of a riddle had brought Giselle to the Venetian, and even though she was playacting this gondola scene, he intended to enjoy himself, at least until he became drenched. He knew it would happen. He just didn’t know when.
“This lucky couple is celebrating a very special night,” said the guy who’d brought them to the gondola landing. “I know you’ll take good care of them, Luigi.”
“Luigi?” Luke looked at the gondolier. “Really?”
“While I’m giving gondola rides.” The dark-haired, olive-skinned man in a shirt with vertical stripes flashed his white teeth. “Are we ready?”
“Absolutely.” Giselle looked at Luke and lowered her voice. “You should put your arm around me.”
“Oh.” This experience continued to improve. He discovered that Giselle made a very good snuggling partner. She understood exactly how to nestle her curves against his angles so they fit like a couple of puzzle pieces.
“Perfect,” Luigi said. “Don’t forget the tradition.”
Luke glanced at the gondolier. “What tradition?”
“Couples in love usually kiss going under the bridges.”
“Oh.” Luke felt Giselle stiffen.
“And we’re off,” Luigi said.
Luke put his mouth next to Giselle’s ear. Breathing in her scent jacked up his pulse, but he made himself say what he figured she wanted to hear. “Don’t worry. I won’t honor that tradition.”
“Okay.” She relaxed against him in obvious relief.
So he wouldn’t kiss her, but that didn’t meant he couldn’t enjoy the cuddling. He had an armful of very beautiful woman, and she felt warm and exceedingly willing. That wasn’t real, of course, but he could dream.
The boat did, indeed, glide along, and he could understand why couples found this to be a stimulating experience. The phallic shape of the boat and the liquid canal . . . well, it was obvious, right?
The gondola ride drew spectators, a cheerful lot who waved at the passing boats. Luke kept a sharp eye out for Cynthia and Bryce, but even if they were in the crowd, they wouldn’t be close enough to aim a squirt gun accurately.
All was well in his world until the gondolier began to sing. It wasn’t his voice, which turned out to be a deep baritone and was probably one of the reasons he’d been hired. It was his choice of songs, or rather Cynthia’s choice of songs. The song was “I Hope You Dance.”
She was determined to break him. The lyrics of the song fit her campaign, but the song cut deeper than that. Every time he heard it he was transported back to a dark auditorium where he and his folks had watched his little sister perform her first solo, a ballet to this very number. She’d been fourteen, which was young to be dancing a solo number. But she’d begged her teacher for the chance and had knocked one out of the park.
He swore softly under his breath, which helped to block the relentless parade of sentimental images. Giselle obviously heard his muted but colorful language, because she began to shake with silent laughter.
Cynthia was playing dirty, but she was sure focused. That had been Giselle’s evaluation, and boy, had she nailed it. Cynthia had decided that she wanted something and she was by damn going to get it, no matter how long she had to torture him.
He wondered if she’d find a way to work water into this gig after all. But the Venetian couldn’t risk having guests end up in the canal, either accidentally or on purpose. No matter how much money Cynthia had thrown at them, they weren’t going to dump his ass overboard.
Besides, that lacked finesse. He was in a boat, and shoving him into the water would be crude and obvious, in addition to lawsuit-worthy. Even though Giselle hadn’t listed her brother’s various pranks yet, Luke had already figured out that Landry went for the unexpected and the relatively harmless.
Bryce was, Luke grudgingly acknowledged, a good match for Cynthia. She had always been so pressured to use her intelligence to excel, and she probably admired Bryce for using his for smart-aleck tricks. Luke only hoped she wouldn’t admire anything else about him. Being in league together against the uncooperative big brother was one thing. Being in love with each other was more serious.
The song continued endlessly as the gondolier gave it all he had. He’d probably been told this was their song. Ironically, it would become their song tonight. Now every time he heard it, he’d think of Cynthia’s dance recital, but he’d also remember this gondola ride. He had a feeling memories of Giselle would haunt him long after she’d left town.