“At seven thirty.”
“At seven, actually. We’d need time to get there,” he explained, eyes on my hair as he traced a line down from the flower to my neck. “So, yeah. We’d go out and do a fun thing right here in the city, for which I’ve already reserved two tickets, just in case you’d agree.”
“Oh,” I breathed, feeling shaky. “Tickets to what?”
He picked up my hand and placed it over his heart. It was racing as fast as it was when he was spying in the hallway. As fast as mine. “Can’t tell you that until you say yes.”
“Are you asking?”
“Will you say yes? I think you should.” He leaned forward until his nose was touching the lily and inhaled deeply. Waves of chills raced over my scalp. And across my arm, radiating from where his warm hand pressed over mine, which hum-hum-hummed with the faint but insistent echo of his heartbeat. “Just two friends, enjoying a pleasant night out. In public. Nothing can happen.”
He was confusing me, touching me like this, saying we’re only friends.... “We were in public the first time around. And look what happened then.”
He huffed out a little laugh that shook his chest and reverberated through my hand. “True. We do have a history of not being able to control ourselves. Never fear. We’ll have a strict hands-off policy for this date that isn’t a date.”
“No hands.”
“Mostly no hands,” he assured me. “Butfor surewe’ll keep our pants on this time.”
“Oh God,” I mumbled.
He pressed my hand more firmly against his chest. “Birdie?”
“Yes?”
“Seven o’clock tomorrow?”
Before I could answer, a triple-fast knock rapped on the door. We pulled away from each other as the lockbeeped. Beth’s face poked inside the room. “Manager is on his way up here with two guests. Out, out!”
Heart hammering, I dashed toward the door, only to stop short when Daniel blocked my exit with his arm. “You didn’t answer.”
“Are you serious?” I said impatiently, utterly panicked. “Let me out!”
“Please, Birdie. I’m begging you to go out with me. Please, please—”
“Fine. Yes, whatever!”
He nodded firmly. “You won’t regret it. Let’s go.” He released the door and urged me forward into the hallway unexpectedly. I had to lunge to avoid Beth’s housekeeping cart, and in doing so, tripped over my own feet, barely catching myself from falling on my face.
“Oof!”
“Sorry!” he said, steadying me. “Oh, almost forgot. Wear purple tomorrow if you can.”
“What?” I said a little too loudly.
“Oh my God, you two. Shut the hell up!” Beth whispered angrily. “If we get caught, we’re all in deep trouble.”
“Nah. We’ll just be fired,” Daniel whispered cheerfully, beaming at me with a big, stupid grin on his face.
Beth made an exasperated noise. “How do I let you talk me into this kind of shit? Sometimes I really want to strangle you, Daniel Aoki.”
You and me both, Beth. You and me both.
“Fate is by far the greatest mystery of all.”
—Lady Julia Grey,Silent in the Grave(2006)
15
