fight in the fountain with some of her other guests. Mina turned back to Arina but found she was already several feet away from her, hurriedly trying to disappear into the crowd and tripping several times as she did so.
Lady Mina sighed and looked back at her real target: he was positively soaked and grinning like a madman. What obnoxious behaviour! And yet the way the moonlight shimmered off his wet skin made him glisten like a precious jewel. She watched a single glittering bead of water slowly roll down his cheek, slip over his jaw, trickle gently down his neck and…
Her face burned, and she gasped in shock having caught herself staring. This is ridiculous, he’s just some wacky banker! Even so, her feet felt like lead as she approached him.
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make a mess of my garden.” She tried to say it sternly, but she could still feel heat in her cheeks.
The man, who’d been laughing and splashing another guest, stopped to greet her with a smile.
“Ah! Lady Mina,” he said her name with such weight she thought she’d collapse under it. “Sorry birthday girl, my bad!”
He climbed out of the fountain and stood dripping before her with that same crooked smile he’d left her with earlier. Up close he was actually shorter than her, which honestly should have made him less intimidating but really didn’t.
Not that she was intimidated of course, he just… had very intense eyes.
“You know how it is, one minute you’re dancing on dry land and the next….” He chuckled and motioned to his draping wet clothes.
“Y-Yes, well, never mind that.” Mina coughed. “You’ve yet to give me your name you know.”
“Oh? Did I not?” There was a gleam in his eye that made it damn clear he knew he hadn’t. “Hm. Well then, call me ‘gorgeous.’”
“Gorgeous?!”
“Oh STOP!” He said playfully before leaning in just a little too close. “…But do go on.”
She found herself panicking, staring back into those hooded yellow eyes of his and drowning. “I—! Y-You—! That—!”
And just as quickly he moved back. “No good? How bout ‘sexy’ then?”
“Th-That’s—!”
“Oooh! Or ‘sugar’! I’ve always wanted to be called ‘sugar’ at least once!”
“Wha—?!”
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