Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)

42. No reward without risk

Vincent.

Cat releases a relieved breath at seeing him standing in the doorway. He looks so different. His hair is combed back neatly, he's shaved, he is wearing a black tuxedo with a long tie and he is staring at her like they're the only two people there.

He steps inside when she gets up from the table and walks over with a smile.
"Hey," she breathes.

"Hey."

"What are you - ?"

"Well, uh, you said in your profile you like to dance...But you see, JT doesn't."

So that's where it disappeared to. She had wondered. "Do you?"

Without a word, Vincent holds out his palm. She takes it, looking into his eyes and he leads her into the group of people dancing around them.
He places his right hand around her waist at her lower back, her hand going to his shoulder. They move slowly, close to each other.
To Vincent she was the most beautiful woman in the room. To Catherine he was the room.
He puts his other arm around her too and hugs her to him, still moving. She places her head on his chest, happier than she's been in a long time. Their eyes don't stray long and for the rest of the song, they stare at each other, her hands moving along his arms.

During their second song, they didn't really want to let each other go, Cat looks at him with a tilted smile.
"So, what happened? JT beg you to take his place?" She laughs, it sounds like something he would do.

Vincent smiles and shakes his head. "No." He looks at her lips. "I begged him."

Cat could hardly keep the smile growing bigger. He was a romantic man...

"Hey everybody!" Thomas speaks making them look at him when he taps a fork against his glass. "My wife - " he is interrupted by cheers and Cat laughs. "Thank you," he chuckles, "Would like to remind everyone that dinner is served. And it's actually pretty good for wedding food. So please," he waves towards the tables and goes to rejoin Brooke at theirs.

Cat turns to Vincent, grabbing her shawl in one hand and his hand in the other. "Okay come on." She pulls him along out the doors he'd come in through.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asks, laughing when they get to a table a ways away from the hall. Tables had been set up outside as well. "Hey, hey, hey, I didn't come here to hide." Cat is so used to doing things in secret it was second nature. "I'm here because I wanna be. Besides, I did my Denver research, I've got my story down."

Cat grimaces, hugging herself against the breeze.

"What?" he asks.

"I confessed. I told them that there is no Vincent Zalanski."

"Oh."

"It doesn't matter. My dad, he is so happy. Who cares if people think I don't have a plus one."

Vincent feigns a hurt expression. "Hey, I am standing right here." Cat laughs. "At least introduce me to the people you didn't confess to."

"I don't think I need to." And she didn't. She didn't need to prove anything to anyone. He proved everything by showing up and she was content with that. "I think that I lied because I feel like I do...have someone in my life and it wasn't that I wanted to show him off, it's just that I wanted him to be here." He nods. "But there are things about you that neither of us can change so..."

"So it wasn't really a lie then. You just got his last name wrong."

"And his home town," she jokes.

"You know uhm, he is hungry..." Vincent looks at the hall behind her.

"Oh," she completely spaced on that. "Steak or chicken?"