I start backtracking toward the dance floor, her hand in mine. “Step on as many toes as you like.” She gasps as I tuck her close and press a kiss to the tender spot behind her ear. “All I need is you.”

The dance begins, one that I know well, that I’ve danced to more times than I can count. But this time it’s different. Because Bea’s in my arms.

I stare down at her. She’s so beautiful, my heart aches.

She stares up at me, biting her lip, her hair arranged into delicately upswept strands. Gold earrings with an onyx-like stone sparkle almost as bright as her eyes. She has barely any makeup on except her lips, which are painted rose red. They make her skin glow; her blue-green eyes glitter in contrast. I could stare at her for years. For a lifetime.

“What is it?” she asks quietly.

I sweep my hand lower down her back, savoring the satin softness of her skin, its delicate warmth beneath my cool hand. “I’m glad you came. Even though I was stubborn and tried to stop you.”

“Well, thankfully I’m as stubborn as you.” Her eyes search mine and she slides her hand up higher, toying idly with the hair at the nape of my neck. “I’m glad I came, too.”

We’re alone on the dance floor, my father glaring from the sidelines, savoring his retribution, but I hardly notice. The world dissolves to only this—the two of us, Bea, warm and soft in my arms, her eyes seeing only me.

I love her. Oh God, I love her. With each pound of my heart, the swell of the string quartet as the music builds, that’s the only thing I hear and feel—I love her. When haven’t I loved her?

“You know what’s funny?” she says, oblivious to my thoughts, smiling as I draw her closer, already terrified that somehow now, because I know I love her, I’ll lose her.

“What?” I ask, sighing with pleasure as her fingertips drift higher into my hair, an affectionate, comforting touch.

“That this would be the ultimate occasion to fool Jules and Jean-Claude, to splash a dozen glamorous photos on Instagram and make the other meddlers so hopelessly in love with the idea of us.”

My stomach tightens, dread filling it. Has she changed her mind about us? About abandoning our scheme?

Bea wipes away my fears as she curls her hand around my neck, guiding me down for a kiss. She flashes a bright smile as our mouths part. “All I wanted was revenge,” she says softly, her hand settled over my heart. “And now all I want is you.”

I kiss her. I kiss her again and again, and it throws off our timing and we stumble a little, and it’s perfect. It’s so perfect because it’s her, here with me. Us. Together.