Chances Are by Erica Spindler Read Free Book Online

from propriety."
    As I was born into obligations and traditions, Brandon thought. It's only right that I'm proper and upright and... bored. He shook off his melancholy. "You make it sound very romantic."
    "Would you rather I think of my conception as sordid? Everyone else does."
    "Narrow-minded bigots don't count."
    She paused, then responded thoughtfully, "No, they shouldn't." But they do, she silently added. Sometimes they count the most.
    "What are you thinking?" Brandon asked, noting that her perpetually upturned mouth had thinned.
    "That I love nights like this," she answered, tilting her head and looking up at the starless rolling sky. "They're energy and power. I imagine great, angry gods stomping and shouting their displeasure. The power reverberates through me, making me timid... and reckless."
    She laughed low in her throat. "Once, when I was afraid of thunder, Maman told me the gods were bowling. She told me the rumbling was the ball going down the lane and that the loudest booms were a strike. From that night on I'd lie awake during a storm and count the strikes, keeping imaginary scores in my head and deciding on winners. I was never afraid of a storm again."
    She seemed so sure of herself. Confident and somehow invulnerable. "Are you ever afraid, Veronique?" he questioned softly. "Do you ever wonder at your choices?"
    "I never second-guess myself. But..." She lowered her eyes and voice. "Sometimes late at night, when the only sound in the room is my own breathing, I'm afraid." Her gaze returned to his. "Are you?"
    He didn't hesitate. "Yes. There're times when I wonder what happened to the young man with dreams. When I wonder if I gave my freedom away or if someone stole it from me."
    Her chest felt suddenly tight, her breath short. "And that frightens you," Veronique murmured, her voice husky with emotion. A chord, long buried, stirred inside her. It was warm and gentle, like a flower blooming after a bitter winter. "Why were you out here alone? What were you doing out here when there is a party going on a dozen feet away?"
    "Getting drunk," Brandon said, breathing in her fresh, floral scent. "Thinking about life and changes and lies."
    She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. For long minutes she followed Brandon's lead, listening to the rumble of thunder and the sound of the rushing wind as they danced. "The storm's closer," she murmured finally.
    "Yes." With the storm's increased fury, Brandon picked up his pace. He swung her dizzyingly toward the darkest part of the gallery, then slowed his steps until they stood the way they'd begun, bodies brushing as they swayed to the faint music.
    Their eyes met and clung. Brandon swore under his breath. "This is crazy."
    She trailed her fingers across his chest. "It's reckless."
    "It makes no sense." Brandon cupped her face in his hands, stroking her skin in soft, slow circles.
    "No sense at all," she murmured.
    Her voice was low and impossibly inviting, and his gaze lowered to her mouth. "I'd very much like to kiss you. But only if you want me to."
    "Yes." She lifted her face to his. "Yes, kiss me." The fingers cupping her face stilled; his head lowered.
    The first drop of rain hit her cheek at the same moment her pulse began to race. The second landed on the tip of her nose just as her lips were parting. Those two drops were nature's only warning; the skies opened, releasing a flood of water. Brandon lifted his head with a jerk.
    Laughter bubbled to her lips. "Do you believe in a power greater than you or me?"
    Brandon sucked in a sharp, surprised breath. At first he hadn't even realized it had started raining. This crazy woman had mesmerized him. He shook his head to clear it. "What?"
    Her hands still rested on his chest; his heartbeat slowed under her palm. The rain really was a shame, Veronique decided. She would have liked to kiss him. She curled her fingers into his lapels for one more moment before regretfully stepping away. "So, do you believe in