“And we can skip the singing stuff, unless you want to sing this song, Lexi?” Lexi’s face whitened as Madison pointed at the lyrics on the page.
“Oh, I think Lexi should have to sing, Maddie.” Vincent chuckled and egged the little girl on, earning himself the evil eye from Lexi.
“Just remember who makes your coffee every morning, Vincent. And gets your lunch. You really want to risk getting on my bad side? You can kiss all those burgers goodbye, pal.” Lexi smiled at Madison. “Honey, why don’t you sing the song? I bet you would do a wonderful job.”
Madison broke into song, looking back and forth from Vincent to Lexi as she sang, not missing a single word. After the musical interlude, she had Lexi read the book. She used different voices for each of the characters, which thrilled Maddie to no end. Vincent took over a few of the household characters, doing a spot on French accent that made Lexi swoon.
When Belle and the Beast finally met in the story, Vincent read the parts of the Beast with a low, gruff voice that softened the more he was around Belle. Lexi turned the page, and Madison clapped with delight.
“This is my favorite part in the whole book!” She crawled out from under the covers and jumped on the bed. “You two get to dance!”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know,” Lexi stammered, having no idea how she was going to get out of this one. There was no way she could be in Vincent’s arms again without him seeing the feelings she harbored for him. But Vincent was already on his feet and walking around to her side of the bed.
“Oh, we don’t really have to.”
Ignoring her completely, Vincent gave a gentlemanly bow to Lexi and extended his large hand. “May I have this dance, Belle?” he asked in character. When Lexi paused, he gave her a playful wink.
Lexi looked at Maddie clapping her hands in wide-eyed anticipation, then glanced at Vincent patiently waiting for her to accept his offer. It was completely unfair of him to use it his irresistible wink like this, but before Lexi knew it, her legs were shifting off the bed, and she felt the soft carpet under her feet. She slipped her tiny hand into Vincent’s and took an unsure step in his direction. He gently pulled her into the center of the room and brushed his lips over her knuckles before sweeping her up into his arms.
Madison began singing right on cue. “Tale as old as time …”
Dancing with Vincent in front of all those people at the gala had made Lexi self-conscious, but that was nothing compared to dancing with him alone in Madison’s room. The intimacy of it, the way he cradled her in his arms so gently, with only the eyes of a child on them, and the radiant smile on his face as he spun her around the room was overwhelming. The warmth from his body spread out around hers, his contact like tiny flames licking against her skin.
Lexi focused on her breathing the entire dance, trying desperately to not get lost in his eyes, but failing miserably. She watched the way his irises sparkled as he glanced over at Maddie, blowing her a kiss, and then twirled Lexi in circles. For those two minutes, Lexi felt like she was actually living out a fairy tale.
“Okay, now you two kiss!” Madison proclaimed from her bed as the song ended, bouncing with excitement.
Lexi froze. “N-no, that’s not in the book.” She craned her neck to look at the pages, searching for any indication of a kiss.
“But that’s when Belle and the Beast start to fall in love,” Madison said with a deep frown.
“Yes, honey, but we can’t just kiss. Uncle Vincent he’s my … my …”
“Friend,” Vincent offered, tugging on Lexi’s arm, trying to calm her down. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” He leaned in closer and whispered, “Are you worried that if we kiss we might start to fall in love?”
Way ahead of you on that one, mister, Lexi thought to herself, wondering how she would ever find her way back from this. “Actually, I’m afraid this will just be another reason for Jade to gouge my eyes out next time she sees me,” Lexi said through a tight smile, trying to keep Madison from hearing.
“Never mind,” Madison said sadly, her excitement quickly replaced with disappointment as she sat down on her bed.
“Maddie, the problem is people just can’t go around kissing,” Vincent tried to explain.
The sight of her sadly pouting broke Lexi’s heart. She didn’t want her hang up to be the reason the little girl’s big night ended on a sad note, so she did the only thing she could. “Let’s do it.”
Vincent’s head whipped in her direction, his eyebrows rose skeptically. “Are you sure? Because I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“Vincent, shut up and kiss me.”
He took her hand and slowly spun her in one final, torturously slow turn. When she was facing him, he wrapped one arm around her waist, while the other cupped the back of her neck, his fingers wrapping around her long hair as he held her in place.
Lexi’s heart screamed to life in her chest as his face approached hers. She was certain he could feel her trembling in his arms, but she was helpless to stop her body’s reaction to their impending kiss. This was something she had dreamed of, fantasized about, and hoped for all those years ago, and it was about to happen.
His lips were soft as they brushed against hers, better than anything she had ever imagined. He was gentle, but completely in control of the kiss. At first he applied only light pressure, but then something changed and his mouth moved more forcefully over hers, hungrily even. She felt his grip on her hair tighten as his lips took control of hers, teasing and guiding her into a more heated kiss.
Lexi was thankful he had a good grip on her, because her knees turned to Jell-O when she felt his warm tongue graze against her lower lip. Her body melted to his, her soft curves molding against hard muscles like perfectly matching puzzle pieces. Without warning, Lexi’s arms wrapped around his neck, and she opened her mouth, allowing him to slide in and taste her. Her tongue tentatively made contact with his, but she still allowed him to set the pace. She had been kissed many times before, but never had she felt it move through her body like an electric current, awakening every cell in its path, the way Vincent’s kiss did. In those few seconds, she had never felt more alive. As he deepened the kiss, a tiny giggle from Madison snapped Lexi right back into reality and out of the erotic fantasy that was playing out in her head.
She forcefully pushed Vincent away and covered her mouth with her hand. “What did I do?” she murmured, half to herself, half to Vincent. The look