Forty-Four

Monte studied the shy woman dancing with him whose attention darted around the room more than it had rested on him. He liked the way she pressed against him so intimately and yet didn’t seem to mind. He enjoyed the way she’d gazed at him as if she’d never seen anything so perfect. He also liked the scent surrounding her – better than a flower garden. Of course, roses had always been his favorite.

The longer he watched her scan the crowd, the more he realized she was purposely trying not to look at him. His mouth twitched into a grin. He’d change that in a hurry.

While the crowd distracted her, he had the chance to examine her eyes. They were actually prettier than he remembered from this morning. Not very often had he met women with gray eyes, but hers were such a pretty color. Being this close to her, he couldn’t help but notice they also held specks of gold as if God had sprinkled stars in her eyes.

As he studied her face mo