With their costumes ready for tomorrow’s celebration, Cristiano took Keira to the canal and helped her upon a gondola. Keira’s mind instantly conjured up the memory of the last time they’d been in this situation together, in the close confinements of a gondola, their thighs pressing. It had been in the Blue Grotto, the place where fate had first presented her with an opportunity to kiss him. Perhaps this would be another chance, and one she would not miss again.

To see Venice from the water was a whole new treat for Keira’s eyes. She’d been astounded and somewhat baffled by the construction of the city before, but from this vantage point it was even more incredible. She didn’t understand how such a place was real, how it had been created by human hand. It was an awe-inspiring, almost humbling experience.

“My Keira,” she heard Cristiano murmur, “always lost in your thoughts.”

“I feel like this isn’t real,” she told him. “Like I’m dreaming.”

“Perhaps this is a dream,” he told her. “But you know that dreams do come true. Like wishes.”

She looked at him then, wondering if he was alluding to the moment at the fountain when they had been about to kiss. She felt the tingle of expectation race through her veins.

The feeling inside Keira only grew as they spent the next hour in the gondola winding through the canals, from the largest to the tiniest, exploring every nook and cranny Venice had to offer. At times the water was choppy, filed with motorboats, rowing boats, canoes, and gondolas, setting Keira’s pulse racing. She was so enchanted by Venice and so enthralled by the experience of exploring it by boat that it took her by surprise when the sun began to set.

In the darkening sky, Venice transformed before Keira’s very eyes, turning from a place of fantasy to a city of magic. More than ever, Keira felt like she was in a waking dream. She turned abruptly and looked at Cristiano, her calm but quiet companion.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” she said boldly.

Cristiano’s eyebrows shot up. “You are?”

“If that’s okay,” Keira added, with a shrug.

“It is,” he replied, still looking shocked.

Keira raised her hand to his jaw and gently cupped his face, drawing him toward her. To the backdrop of a golden sky, their lips were about to meet.

Keira felt a surge of sensation racing through her, emanating from the place their bodies connected. She felt alive, awake, powerful. The moment was wonderful, imagining the kiss so soft and passionate.

The boat suddenly bumped, jerking them apart. She looked at Cristiano, confused, and discovered the gondola had drifted in the water, colliding with the corner of a stone jetty that jutted out into the canal. They laughed together, carefree.

“Cristiano?” a voice said suddenly.

Keira looked up, confused, to see that standing on the sidewalk above the jetty, looking down on them, was a beautiful Italian woman. She looked shocked, maybe even a little disgusted by what she was seeing. By Keira.