The Cinderella Moment (20 page)

And there it was below them: an elegant white craft, with a wide wooden deck at the front and enormous glass windows that met overhead to form a transparent ceiling. Through the windows Angel could see candlelit tables laid out around a dance floor with a mirror ball above it and a DJ putting a record on a turntable.

It looked wonderful.

She and Nick hurried along the dock to join the crowd waiting beside the boat. As they drew near, Angel realized that they wouldn’t be dining alone.

Kitty and the rest of the summer season gang were all waiting to board.

Again, Angel felt that strange mixture of disappointment and relief as she realized that “dinner” with Nick was just another event in the summer season calendar.

And, if the steady beat of the music pulsing out across the water was any indication, she was in little danger of intimate conversation. As they reached the others, the gangplank came down and the steward waved them aboard.
 

Chapter Twenty-Two

Angel had never been to a party like it. As the boat cruised slowly down the river she and the other guests danced, ate and danced some more. For the first time in her life Angel had no lack of partners. She danced with Nick several times, but also with Rémy, Sebastian and Giles and then with a string of boys whose names she didn’t even try to remember.

It was a heady experience. Unlike the boys back home, the summer season boys were charming. They chatted with her, admired her dress and pointed out the different sights along the riverbanks. Between dances she’d run over to the window to watch another beautiful Parisian landmark glide by.

She was looking out at Notre Dame when she felt someone beside her.

Nick gestured towards the floodlit cathedral. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Magical.”

As the boat drifted slowly past Notre Dame’s great rose window, Nick took her hand. Angel’s heart skipped a beat. The cathedral slid away behind them and she suddenly thought, I should tell him now.

But Nick spoke first. “Lily, I wanted to ask you something.”

He had a look on his face that filled Angel with panic. She
couldn't
let him say anything heartfelt—not when she was lying to him. She felt him pull her towards him and tried desperately to think of something to say.

Just then the music changed and a familiar beat filled the room.

‘“Be My Lover!’” cried Angel.

She heard Nick’s sharp intake of breath and saw his eyes widen before she realized what she’d said. Her cheeks burned.

“The song!” she gasped. ‘“Be My Lover’ by La Bouche. It’s
…
it’s great for dancing!” And before Nick could speak, she plunged into the crowd on the dance floor.

It felt like forever before she could look in Nick’s direction. When she did, she was relieved to see he’d stayed put. She needed time to recover from that moment of total humiliation. How could she have blurted out the song title like that? Angel cringed just thinking about it.

The truth was she was out of her depth. She had no idea what he'd been about to say to her, she only knew she was in danger of falling into his arms if she stayed near him.

It was torture dancing, but she forced herself to stay on the floor until the song finished.

At last the DJ changed the music, but Angel’s heart sank as the first notes of “La Vie en Rose” filled the room and she saw Nick coming towards her. Not a slow dance. She couldn’t. Not with Nick.

All around her couples were forming as he made his way through the crowd. He’d almost reached her when the redheaded girl stepped in front of him. Angel saw her hands run up his chest and rest on his shoulders. She suppressed a sudden spark of jealousy as Nick leaned in close to hear what the girl was saying.

So the redhead liked Nick, did she? Good. Why should Angel care, anyway? This was what she’d wanted after all. With any luck he’d dance with her instead.

She watched as Nick took the redhead's hands in his and began moving to the music.

Angel had got her wish.

Jealousy flared within her and she turned away. It was good that Nick liked the redhead but that didn't mean Angel had to stay and watch them together.

She grabbed her handbag and headed outside.

The night air felt cool after the closed atmosphere of the cabin. To her relief there was no one on the foredeck. Angel leaned on the railing and watched the water foam past. When she looked up, the great glass dome of the Grand Palais was almost opposite and above it she could make out a handful of stars shining faintly in the night sky.

Her mind was in turmoil. What was she meant to do with these unwanted feelings? Nick's appearance in her life was so unexpected and the emotions he was arousing in her were so intense she wasn't sure how to handle them.

She thought of the emotions she'd felt when Papa died—they'd been super intense and hard to bear. But this wasn't like that. This was something entirely new.

***

The slow dance ended and Angel heard a chorus of cheers greet the opening bars of  “Gangnam Style.” She sighed. It would’ve been fun to join in that silly dance. She imagined Nick and the redhead dancing it together—

Someone touched her shoulder and she jumped.

“It’s only me,” said Nick. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, Lily.”

“It’s okay, I just didn’t hear you coming,” said Angel, trying to calm her thumping heart.

“I was going to call out, but you looked so peaceful,” replied Nick. “Not surprising in the face of all this loveliness.” He gestured towards the view, but his eyes were on Angel’s face.

“Let’s go inside,” she said desperately. “I’d love another dance.” She moved towards the cabin only to find herself being gently pulled into Nick’s embrace.

“We can dance out here.”

“But it’s 'Gangnam Style.’”

“It won’t last long,” said Nick and, as if by magic, the music changed and the first lilting, evocative notes of “La Mer” filled the night air.

It was impossible not to succumb to the music and Angel found herself melting into Nick’s arms. Neither of them spoke as they waltzed around the deck and as the last notes faded they stopped dancing and simply stood in each other’s arms watching the Paris skyline.

“You know, I never expected this,” said Nick softly.

Angel looked up at him. “What?”

“You.”

“Me?”

Nick smiled. “I mean, I expected you—Godmother told me you were coming to Paris—I just didn’t expect to feel like this about you.” He coiled a strand of her hair around his finger. “You were a cute kid, Lily, but I never imagined I’d ever want to be more than friends with you.” Angel caught her breath as his arms tightened around her. “I guess I was wrong,” he whispered and bent his head towards her.

Angel lifted her face.

Nick was going to kiss her and she was going to let him.

They were an inch apart when a raucous ringtone shattered the silence. In an instant the spell was broken. Angel pulled free of Nick’s embrace, wrenched open her bag and grabbed her phone.

“Hello?”

“Angel!” exclaimed Lily urgently. “Where have you been? Are you okay? I’ve been ringing for hours.
Please
, don’t tell me you’ve been found out, because I can’t possibly leave London. I got the part of Emily in
Our Town
!”

Angel had forgotten all about her desperate messages to Lily asking her what to do about Nick. And she couldn’t ask for her advice now. Not with Nick standing right there with a look in his eyes that made Angel long to throw her phone into the Seine.

“Angel? Are you there? Have they found out you’re not me?”

“No, it’s okay. Everything’s fine. That's great news about Emily.” Angel smiled apologetically at Nick and tried to focus.

“Thank goodness,” said Lily. “I was worried. Your messages were so garbled—something about dancing lessons and Nick.”

“Yes, but it’s okay now.”

“Are you sure?” demanded Lily. “You sound funny.”

“Honestly, Li—inda, I’m
fine
.”

“Linda? Oh, is someone with you?”

“Uh-huh, and I have to go,” said Angel, trying to sound casual.

But Lily’s uncanny sixth sense for trouble must’ve alerted her because she said instantly, “Is it Nick? Is he there with you? He is, isn’t he?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Angel! I thought you’d agreed to avoid him? Do you want him to find out you’re not me?”

“No.”

“Then you need to stay cool. Keep him at arm’s length and don’t give in to temptation!”

The words burned into Angel’s brain like a brand, but Lily hadn’t finished.

“Remember, you’re in Paris to stop Clarissa cheating.”

“You’re right,” whispered Angel.

“And nothing must get in your way.”

“No.”

“You have to stay focused. Ring me later, okay?”

“Okay. Bye Linda.” She closed her phone, turned to Nick and was startled to see people emerging onto the deck.

Just then the boat bumped gently against the dock.
 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Angel lay awake for ages thinking about Nick.

She could hardly believe she’d almost kissed him. But she’d let herself get caught up in the dance and the music and drifting down the river with Paris on either side. It had been pretty romantic—okay,
incredibly
romantic—but she shouldn’t have let it (nearly) happen.

He was so different from the guys she knew and it wasn't just that he was charming and confident and easy to talk to—Nick was
honest
. Which made it even harder that he didn’t know who she really was.

Angel considered what Nick had said about never expecting to feel this way about her. Did he mean he liked the Angel version of Lily (which meant he liked
her
)? Or was the attraction dependent on her
being
Lily?

She gazed up at her favorite painted faun. “The point is, would he still feel this way if he knew I was
me
?” she asked. It didn’t seem likely, especially once he discovered she’d been lying, but even if it were
…

“He can’t know I’m me until this is over,” Angel told the faun. “Lily’s promised to come to Paris to tell the Comtesse the truth, but by then I’ll be back in New York with no chance of ever seeing him again to explain. And he won’t want to see me once he finds out I’ve been pretending to be Lily!”

It was a hopeless situation and Angel knew it.

She rolled over and punched her pillow. Lily was right. It’d be better if she avoided Nick. But she couldn’t seem to avoid thinking about him and the way he’d held her as they danced and how he'd looked at her and the things he'd said. And she especially couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said about liking her.

At least she’d managed to keep her distance after the boat had docked. Everyone had poured onto the deck to disembark, so there’d been no time to talk, and then they’d all ridden the carousel under the Eiffel Tower before heading home. Angel had managed to avoid sitting with Nick by jumping on a grinning carousel horse and riding solo.

She’d been worried about the drive home but luckily Sebastian had begged a ride and talked the whole way about tomorrow’s polo match.

When they got back to the villa, Angel had practically leapt from the car so by the time Nick came round to open her door she was already on the doorstep. She thought he might have tried kissing her goodnight, only Marcel had opened the door before he’d had the chance.

She wondered what it felt like to be kissed. She was pretty sure she’d like it if Nick kissed her. Dancing with him had felt amazing and she could still feel his arms around her as they waltzed on the deck to “La Mer.”

Angel lay there humming the tune until she fell asleep.