The Prince's Secret Baby (A Baby for the Prince Book 1)(9)

In the Prince’s arms, Maggie felt light on her feet. True to his word, Raffaele didn’t let her fall. Maggie smiled up at him, and when Raffaele smiled back, she thought this might be the most perfect moment she’d ever experienced.

She felt she could dance forever like this, so when the song ended and another began, Maggie stayed right where she was.





Chapter 4





Raffaele





Raffaele studied the face of the beautiful woman he held in his arms. He was used to dancing with all types of beautiful women, but dancing with Maggie was something special. She’d been so nervous when he led her onto the dance floor, but by their second waltz, she was smiling joyfully.

Raffaele raised a questioning eyebrow at her and Maggie laughed.

“Okay, yes, I am having fun. Dancing is fun.”

He grinned at her. They danced through another song, but when the orchestra started the next one, Raffaele noticed that Maggie seemed to be tiring.

“How about we rest for a few minutes?”

“I could go for a break,” she said. “My feet suddenly remembered that I’ve been on them for most of the day.”

Raffaele steered her to a quiet table in the corner.

“Here.” He pulled out a chair for her.

Maggie gratefully sat down. “Thank you.”

As he sat down across from her, Raffaele asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, please. And I’d love to get something else to eat.” She started to stand up again, but Raffaele waved her back into the chair.

“Ah, that’s an easy request.” He lifted his hand in the direction of one of the servers walking through the crowd, and the man immediately moved to their table.

“May I help you with something, sir?”

“Yes. We’d like to taste all the appetizers. I wonder if you could bring us two of each? Thank you.”

Maggie watched him with amusement as the server went to fulfill Raffaele’s request. “You know, we could have gotten the food ourselves.”

Raffaele pointed over his shoulder. “I’m going to get drinks for us.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “I could help with that, too.”

Raffaele shook his head. “Your job is to let someone else wait on you for a change.” He stood and looked in the direction of bar. “Any special requests?” he asked.

Maggie said, “I’m fine with whatever looks good.”

Raffaele looked over his shoulder as he reached the bar, noticing that Maggie was watching him with a smile on her face. He looked back as the bartender greeted him and came up with an idea.

He leaned one elbow on the bar. “I would like a little bit of everything,” Raffaele told the bartender. “Small glasses are fine; we’d just like to taste it all.”

Raffaele thought the bartender looked half amused and half worried, but it couldn’t have been the oddest request the bartender had ever received, since the man quickly went to work.

He walked back to the table where Maggie was waiting, followed by the bartender carrying a large tray with an assortment of glasses. Maggie’s eyes widened and she shook her head.

“What are we going to do with all that?” she asked, and Raffaele could tell she was definitely amused.

Raffaele grinned. “We’re going to try everything.” He thanked the bartender as the man set the tray down on the small table next to the one they sat at.

Maggie added a “thank you” as the bartender walked back to his station.

“Where do we start?” she asked.

Raffaele handed her a glass and took one of his own. He raised the small glass in a salute and she mirrored his motion. Just then, the server arrived with two trays filled with food.

He put one of the trays on the small table with the drinks and the other tray in front of them, saying, “I suggest starting with the warm items first.”

Maggie and Raffaele both thanked him, and Raffaele pointed at one of the tiny pastries. “Try that one.”

Maggie laughed and did as he said. After she took a bite, she tilted her head and shrugged. “Good, but not as good as that first pastry.”

Raffaele searched on the trays and found the first pastry Maggie had tried before they danced. He took a bite of it, then of the second one. Maggie laughed at him as he nibbled and considered. He found that he liked that sound, and he wanted to make her laugh again.

In his best cooking show judge voice, Raffaele said, “I like that the first appetizer made use of seasonal ingredients. However, the second one played it too safe. I want to be wowed by these creations.”

He could tell Maggie got what he was doing, and warmed to the sound of her laughing again. Raffaele handed her another appetizer and waited for her to take a bite before he picked up the other one.

Maggie shook her head. “I’m getting a little bit too much crunchiness, though the flavor is nice.”

Raffaele took a bite. “I agree. A different ingredient would have made a better choice for this dish.”

Maggie pressed her lips together, shaking with giggles. “You do that just a little too well.”

Raffaele grinned at her. “I should offer to be a celebrity judge on one of those cooking shows.”

“I would love to see that. You’d be good at it.”