looked like, so she could keep her eye on them. One of them had to be Tina’s true love for the ring to react the way it had.
Cassia had sat Rin and Tina down when they’d started high school and she’d given them a history lesson about their ancestors. The legend of the ring had started with Theodosia and Lucius, back in the days when people wore togas. The names of others in her family swam in her brain as if she was sitting in front of her mom again, hearing them for the first time. Valeria and Tyren, Antonia and Titus, Valeriana and Aiden, Annie and Alex, and the most recent couple, Britannia and Charles.
Rin took a deep breath and closed her eyes, praying with all her heart that Tina would join her ancestors as the next woman who found true love before her twenty-fifth birthday. It would make a great story, one Tina could lovingly tell her own daughter when she was old enough to understand and appreciate it.
Even though they weren’t close, Rin wanted that for her sister. She wanted her to follow in the footsteps of their long-deceased kin. She watched Tina flirt with and smile at the men at her table for a while, wondering which one might end up being her brother-in-law.
Just when Rin didn’t think Roman was going to return, she somehow sensed him enter the large room.
She looked away from her sister’s table and saw him standing in the doorway. Seeing him there made everything else in her mind disappear. Her only thought was to get to his side.
Rin stood up and headed in his direction, but wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and completely missed a woman who was pushing away from a table. The chair suddenly appeared in her path and Rin swore under her breath as she tried to stop herself from falling over it—and failed.
It was a comedy of errors. The lady shrieked at finding Rin practically on top of her as she tried to stand, a man old enough to be her grandfather tried to grab Rin’s arm to keep her from falling, and Rin herself jerked to the side to try to avoid the collision.
Her movements were enough to pull the older man off his feet at the same time she pitched to the side. She fell against a nearby table, hitting her hip bone, and when the older man fell against her, got pushed to the ground by his weight.
They both lay sprawled on the floor of the ballroom, trying to catch their breaths.
“Jesus, Varinia, are you all right?” Roman asked. He’d rushed over, his brows drawn down in concern.
Rin closed her eyes in mortal humiliation.
She was clumsy. She’d been that way her entire life. Usually it wasn’t that big of a deal, but going ass-over-feet in the presence of the first interesting man she’d met in ages wasn’t big on her to-do list for the evening. It was inevitable that she’d trip, fall, bruise or otherwise make an ass of herself at some point, but doing it in front of the wonderful-smelling man sucked. The only good thing about the entire incident was that she wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress. If she had been, she would’ve flashed everyone around them and they’d have gotten a way-too-personal glimpse of the red satin undies she’d worn for the special occasion.
Rin looked up and saw Roman helping the elderly gentleman off the floor as if he weighed less than a child. He was put on his feet, and Roman steadied him, keeping his hand on his elbow until he was stable again.
Rin slowly got to her feet, wincing at the ache in her hip but ignoring it. She’d had worse. “I’m good, thanks, Roman. Told you I was clumsy.” She turned to the stereotypical-looking grandpa she’d taken to the ground as if they were reenacting a WWE scene. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to take you to the ground with me.”
“Heh. I think I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, young lady,” he told her with a twinkle in his eye. “You probably could’ve righted yourself if I hadn’t interfered and tried to help. I keep forgetting my strength
Cassia had sat Rin and Tina down when they’d started high school and she’d given them a history lesson about their ancestors. The legend of the ring had started with Theodosia and Lucius, back in the days when people wore togas. The names of others in her family swam in her brain as if she was sitting in front of her mom again, hearing them for the first time. Valeria and Tyren, Antonia and Titus, Valeriana and Aiden, Annie and Alex, and the most recent couple, Britannia and Charles.
Rin took a deep breath and closed her eyes, praying with all her heart that Tina would join her ancestors as the next woman who found true love before her twenty-fifth birthday. It would make a great story, one Tina could lovingly tell her own daughter when she was old enough to understand and appreciate it.
Even though they weren’t close, Rin wanted that for her sister. She wanted her to follow in the footsteps of their long-deceased kin. She watched Tina flirt with and smile at the men at her table for a while, wondering which one might end up being her brother-in-law.
Just when Rin didn’t think Roman was going to return, she somehow sensed him enter the large room.
She looked away from her sister’s table and saw him standing in the doorway. Seeing him there made everything else in her mind disappear. Her only thought was to get to his side.
Rin stood up and headed in his direction, but wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and completely missed a woman who was pushing away from a table. The chair suddenly appeared in her path and Rin swore under her breath as she tried to stop herself from falling over it—and failed.
It was a comedy of errors. The lady shrieked at finding Rin practically on top of her as she tried to stand, a man old enough to be her grandfather tried to grab Rin’s arm to keep her from falling, and Rin herself jerked to the side to try to avoid the collision.
Her movements were enough to pull the older man off his feet at the same time she pitched to the side. She fell against a nearby table, hitting her hip bone, and when the older man fell against her, got pushed to the ground by his weight.
They both lay sprawled on the floor of the ballroom, trying to catch their breaths.
“Jesus, Varinia, are you all right?” Roman asked. He’d rushed over, his brows drawn down in concern.
Rin closed her eyes in mortal humiliation.
She was clumsy. She’d been that way her entire life. Usually it wasn’t that big of a deal, but going ass-over-feet in the presence of the first interesting man she’d met in ages wasn’t big on her to-do list for the evening. It was inevitable that she’d trip, fall, bruise or otherwise make an ass of herself at some point, but doing it in front of the wonderful-smelling man sucked. The only good thing about the entire incident was that she wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress. If she had been, she would’ve flashed everyone around them and they’d have gotten a way-too-personal glimpse of the red satin undies she’d worn for the special occasion.
Rin looked up and saw Roman helping the elderly gentleman off the floor as if he weighed less than a child. He was put on his feet, and Roman steadied him, keeping his hand on his elbow until he was stable again.
Rin slowly got to her feet, wincing at the ache in her hip but ignoring it. She’d had worse. “I’m good, thanks, Roman. Told you I was clumsy.” She turned to the stereotypical-looking grandpa she’d taken to the ground as if they were reenacting a WWE scene. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to take you to the ground with me.”
“Heh. I think I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, young lady,” he told her with a twinkle in his eye. “You probably could’ve righted yourself if I hadn’t interfered and tried to help. I keep forgetting my strength
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