her, all men’s suits looked roughly the same, but no man looked the way Matías did. They all looked domesticated, and somehow, putting Matías in a tuxedo only made him look more dangerous. Only highlighted the fact that in many ways, though he could move in this world freely, it was not his world.
He was like her in that way. Although, her ability to move within this space was up for debate and would continue to be until the evening was finished.
His fingertips brushed her arm as he abandoned her for a moment to procure glasses of champagne for them. Rough hands.
Working man’s hands.
Yes, he might look the part of sophisticated businessman in this environment, but in reality he was part of the ranch. And it was part of him.
It was in his soul, in his blood, for better or worse, and now that she knew so much of the worst, she appreciated it on an even deeper level. Appreciated him, and his drive to possess it. To bend it to his will.
And now she knew the weight of his burden. The trauma he’d experienced and he’d come out the other side so...he cared so very much about what was right.
No one else knew the whole story. No one but her.
It made her feel...so strongly linked to him. To this man who was so different from her. So much more experienced.
But also...so much the same. He loved his land. He loved the horses.
She didn’t want to feel anything for him, but she did. Oh, she did.
He handed her the glass of champagne and she took it in her left hand, lifting it to her lips, and it was then she noticed how her ring sparkled in the light. Her engagement ring. And she was not the only one who noticed the way that it caught the lights.
Suddenly, she felt at least fifty sets of eyes on her, and the discomfort from that chased away some of the feelings that had been wrapping themselves around her heart.
And it was only a moment before a couple made their way to Matías and herself, led by the petite, blonde wife and her much older husband.
“Matías,” the woman said. “I daresay we did not expect to see you here tonight. Not after news of your broken engagement had surfaced. But it appears that you’re here after all. And with a woman. A woman with a ring.”
She looked at Camilla with an expression of speculation, her hands clasped together tightly, reminding Camilla of a praying mantis.
“Yes,” Matías said, his tone smooth. “This is my fiancée, Camilla Alvarez. Her father was the late celebrated trainer Cesar Alvarez. I met her during a business venture and had quite the immediate connection.”
“But up until last week you were engaged to Liliana Hart,” the woman said as though Matías might have forgotten.
“I was indeed. I can only say that Liliana and I were clearly not suited, and she was the one who was brave enough to break things off before they became more permanent. I am thankful that Liliana followed her heart so that I was free to follow mine.”
Matías nodded definitively, clearly pleased to let the conversation end on that note, and swept her away from the couple, taking her champagne glass from her hand and depositing it—along with his—on a passing tray. “I say we take this opportunity to share our first dance,” he whispered, his lips close to her ear, his breath playing havoc over her skin, sending heat rioting through her body.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly, her hands feeling slightly clammy.
“Knowing Señora Gomez, what I said to her will make its way into the paper nearly verbatim. I thought that was a good quote to offer up to the press. And a good chance for us to have our photograph taken.”
He swept her into his arms, and this time, when they began to move, it was in time with music. The strains of the live quartet’s song wound its way around them, but it wasn’t what moved her. It was Matías.
Suddenly, she wished, if only for a night, that this were real. That the words he had spoken to that woman, so greedy for gossip and scandal, were true in some regard.
You don’t want that. You don’t want your life controlled by a man. You don’t want to be bound to someone forever.
She didn’t. Truly. But just for a while, it would be nice to be wanted. To be found beautiful.
She had spent so long not particularly feeling like she was any of those things. And this game they were playing touched the edges of those wounds.
She felt a pull between those old insecurities and new confidence that she hadn’t known she possessed the ability to feel.
He made her want to know things. To test these new discoveries she was making.
To find out just what her body was capable of, in all areas. To discover why it mattered that she was a woman, and he was a man.
She had simply never wanted it before. Had never thought of it.
It made her want to laugh, really. The idea that he had somehow made her into a woman. And it was all a little bit silly, considering the symbolism. Considering the fact that she had literally been masquerading as a boy prior to his discovery, and then given this incredible makeover that turned her into a version of herself she didn’t recognize.
“You are very quiet,” he said, the words soft.
Matías was never soft, and the fact that he was being soft in this moment was notable.
“We’re dancing. Should I be...noisy?”
“How are you liking the ball, Cinderella?”
“It’s very nice. Though strange.”
She adjusted her hold on him, moving her fingers across his broad shoulders. She wondered what it would be like to touch him without these layers of fabric between them. And for some reason the thought didn’t even shock her. Because she was too busy being wrapped up in this magic spell.
“Why is it strange?”
“I have never been the center of attention in my entire life. My father loved me, very much, but I was a part of his crew. I was a part of the staff at the rancho. I think, in many ways, I was the son that he never had, but I’m not sure that I was ever truly his daughter.”
“And your mother didn’t care at all.”
She bit her lip. He’d confided in her. Perhaps it would be okay to confide in him. She had been lonely for a long time. She was tired of that. Tired of feeling alone. “My mother was...is...only able to love herself, I think. She fancies herself in love with a parade of different men, but in the end she is never changed by them. In the end none of them can entice her to be faithful.”
“Usually that doesn’t mean you love yourself an extraordinary amount,” he said slowly. “I would suggest it means she does not love herself very much at all. And doesn’t know how to allow anyone else to do it, either.”
She blinked. “Oh. I never thought of it that way.” It was easier to think of her
