His grin widened. “Yeah, so I follow them on Instagram, and they shared a post an hour ago saying that they’re doing a littleBridgertoninspired musical down the street for those who can’t afford to, or couldn’t get tickets for,The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. We can even donate some cash to the choir so that they can keep doing these shows, but bigger.” He leaned in. “Would you care to indulge me, Miss Ribeiro? A little bit ofthis, and a little bit ofthat– with yours truly.”
I looked down at my pink sweater dress, beige yoga pants, and brown winter boots, then gave Myles another once over.
Where did you get the jacket from?I asked him.
He fixed the lapels of said jacket and gave me a wink. “I borrowed it from one of the performers. Told him I wanted to impress my girl and shit.”
I chuckled, just as Daniel said, “Rina, kindly remove thismutantfrom the premises. It is scaring away our customers and putting a major damper on our business.”
Everyone, including Cruz, laughed.
Myles only flipped Daniel off in response, earning a few giggles from the female shoppers in the store.
“Mature as always, I see,” Daniel stated with a belligerent roll of his eyes.
Myles blew him a kiss. “Had to make sure it matched your level of intellect, bestie,” he quipped.
I snorted, but quickly placed a hand over my mouth when Daniel glowered at me.
The electronic bird chirped, and as another group of customers entered the shop, almost all of them gave Myles either confused or incredulous looks before going about their business and browsing the display cases and framed menu boards.
He didn’t care about any of that, of course, and brought his attention back to me. “So, you coming?” he asked around a smile. “I know you love the show, and I’ve also sorta, kinda, a little bit, found sense in it. It’ll be fun – just you and me, and some ear-splitting crescendos.”
There will be other people present, I signed.It is a street, after all.
Myles shrugged. “So? Big deal, Rina. When has that ever stopped you from beingyou?”
I shook my head as I chuckled, because he was right.
Ofcoursehe was.
Okay, I told him, then looked at Remi from over his shoulder.Take over for me, I signed to him.
He nodded and gave me a thumbs up.
I then looked at Laurel and Hardy – I mean, Daniel and Cruz.
Assist Remi,please, I signed.
Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “If you come back wearing a corset and an empire-waist dress, I swear to God I’m going to refuse to identify you and most definitely disown you as a friend,” he said.
Cruz kicked him in the shin, making Daniel yelp in surprise and glare at him.
“What hemeansis,” Cruz began, then gave Daniel a bored look, “we’ll look after the shop and help Remi if there’s a customer rush. You go enjoy the choir.”
I love you, I said to Cruz.You rock.
“Hedoesn’t,” Daniel objected.
“You’d wish that, wouldn’t you?” Cruz told him, then signed,Have fun; love you, to me, before grabbing the back of Daniel’s collar and dragging him back inside the bakery.
“Wow…” Myles scratched his jaw with a contemplative look on his face. “I always wonder if those two are real, or just crazy side characters from a quirky romcom novel. But then I also think about how I don’t really give any number of shits in regards to that little idea, and then go about my business.”
Huh?
God, I was so confused.
“Anyways.” Myles grinned at me again. “Should we get going, or what?” He offered me a hand.
