At least he had that going for him. It seemed Vincent was fairly even-tempered. “She certainly looks lovely, Mr. Austin. Your niece is a beautiful woman.” His gaze flicked over to Carly. “And since that is the case, I’m hoping she’ll agree to dance with me.”
“Of course she will.” Her uncle gave her a look that brooked no argument, and Carly forced herself to smile.
“Of course. I’d be delighted.” He had that going for him, too. Vincent was a very good dancer. She let him lead her onto the dance floor and they began to move to the soft strains of a waltz. She’d been hoping for a polka or perhaps a mazurka, something lively, so they wouldn’t have to talk.
“I meant what I said. You look lovely tonight, Caralee.” Vincent smiled, his hazel eyes warm on her face. “Even in San Francisco, you’d be the belle of the ball.”
“Thank you, Vincent, that’s very flattering.” But then so was everything he said. They continued to dance. Carly was enjoying the music but couldn’t manage to concentrate on Vincent’s uninteresting conversation. Though she tried to will them not to, her eyes kept searching the crowd for Ramon. She recognized Sam Hollingworth and his wife, Amanda, their closest neighborsto the north; George Winston; and Royston Wardell. The Montoyas were there, and several other Californio families, but she saw no sign of the tall, dark-eyed Spaniard.
It’s better this way, she told herself. Still her chest felt heavy with disappointment.
“Are you listening, Caralee?” Vincent was speaking as he led her off the dance floor. “I said I need to see you in private. There’s something I want to show you.”
Carly stiffened slightly against the arm he rested at her waist. Oh God, what if he proposed? “You h-have something to show me?”
“That’s what I said. Meet me out in the barn in twenty minutes.”
“The barn? I don’t think that’s a good idea, Vincent. What if someone saw us?”
“Come on, Caralee. I bet you weren’t such a coward when you were tramping through the woods with the Spanish Dragon.”
Carly stiffened even more. She didn’t like the look that flickered in Vincent’s eyes. But when she looked again, he was merely smiling. Perhaps she had only imagined it. “Why in the world does it have to be the barn? Isn’t there someplace else we could go?”
“That’s where the surprise is. You have to come, Caralee. I had it made especially for you. I promise you’ll be pleased.”
She had to admit he’d intrigued her. “All right, twenty minutes.”
He grinned and squeezed her hand. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
Absently she nodded, but her mind had already slipped off toward the road leading into the rancho, to the carriage that had arrived while they were talking. Carly sucked in a breath at the sight of Ramon’s tall figure striding along between the two elderly women who had to be his mother and aunt.
For a moment, she couldn’t move. The weeks she had spent in the mountains all came rushing back as if she had never left. She could feel Ramon’s mouth over hers, his kiss so hot it scorched right through her. And his hands… dear God, those beautiful long, brown fingers… the way they had kneaded her breasts, made her nipples grow hard inside her blouse. Carly swallowed as he came to a halt in front of her.
“Senorita McConnell. It is good to see you.” He was dressed in his snug blackcalzonevas,the ones with the silver conchos down the side. A short, blackcharrojacket stretched across his wide shoulders, the narrow lapels embroidered in silver thread. “I do not believe you have met my mother and aunt.” For their sake, he spoke to her in Spanish, smiling pleasantly, but his eyes remained locked with hers, intense in their expression, imparting a silent message.You did as you promised. You did not break your word.
Carly moistened her lips, which suddenly felt so dry she could barely speak. “No, we haven’t met. Good evening, senoras. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
His mother simply nodded. She was a robust little woman dressed in dark plum with a black fringedre-bozoaround her head and shoulders.
His aunt was taller, thinner, more frail than his mother, but her eyes were shrewd. “I am pleased to meet you, also, Senorita McConnell.” She assessed Carly from head to foot, then glanced once more at Ramon, whose gaze was now carefully hooded. “Now that we have been introduced, I remember seeing you with my nephew the day of the horse race.”
Carly smiled softly. “Yes, Don Ramon was very gallant that day.” She was almost afraid to look at him her heart was pounding so hard.
His aunt’s keen eyes continued to assess her. Then she tilted her head toward the musicians playing at the far end of theplatform. “Listen, Anna,” she said to the other woman. “The music is beautiful, no?” She turned and smiled at Carly. “My nephew is an excellent dancer, just like his father, Diego, may God rest his soul. Ramon—why do you not show the senorita how a Spaniard dances the waltz?”
His fine black brows tilted into a frown. “I do not believe the senorita’s uncle would find that a very good idea.”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Carly said impulsively. No matter how much it angered her uncle, she would never behave toward Ramon as she had done before.
A brow arched up, then he smiled that incredibly masculine smile she had worked so hard to forget. Her palms went damp and a trickle of perspiration seeped into the space between her breasts. Perhaps dancing with Ramon was not such a good idea after all.
He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I can think of nothing I would like better, Senorita McConnell.”
They left the old women beneath a red paper lantern and a bright crescent moon, and crossed to the wooden dance floor. When Ramon turned her to face him, settling a hand at her waist, it seemed to burn through the beautiful golden gown. The strains of the music rose up and he swept her along in its wake, as graceful in this as he had been astride his magnificent stallion.
He smiled down at her, the golden flecks glinting in his eyes. “So… I am still alive. I was not all that certain that I would be.” His long sinewy legs brushed intimately between her own, sending warm little shivers racing through her. Her fingers tingled where he clasped them, yet Ramon seemed unaffected, every movement perfectly controlled, his warm smile exactly in place. And he took great care to keep the proper distance between them.
El Dragón would have scoffed at such proprieties. Carly discovered she was slightly disappointed.