Shit, whatwashe doing?
He cleared his throat, starting forward again as if he hadn’t seen her at all.
She looked up as he entered. Her eyes went wide and she stood up, sending the posters shooting across the floor and into his path.
“Crap,” she murmured.
He looked down. For a moment, his brain didn’t register the image on the paper, but then the silver limbs began to make sense. The bare torsos, the curve of a breast. Was that a nipple?
“They’re not mine,” Anne blurted out. “I’m helping Cricket hang posters for her play and… they look like that.”
He brought his gaze up to hers, ready to make a joke, before he remembered that wasn’t something they did anymore. It was a muscle memory he hadn’t unlearned yet.
So instead, he bent down and picked them up, then handed them back to her.
“Thanks,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed, but even that didn’t diminish her sense of composure. She had always been like that, someone who had a quiet sense of control, regardless of the situation.
His mother’s voice rang in his head:And so beautiful.
Damn it. He hated when she was right.
He cleared his throat again, trying to think of the right thing to say, when the older woman joined them, mail in hand. She was eyeing her ConEd bill when she finally noticed Freddie standing in front of her.
“Who are you?” she asked.
He smiled. “Fred Wentworth. I just moved in upstairs—8A.”
The woman eyed him for a long moment, then she turned back to Anne. “Squatters’ rights.”
His brow furrowed, but before he could ask what she meant, the elevator arrived with a ding.
“Okay, Anne, I’ve got the tape and also the best news!” Cricket announced as she skipped out of the elevator and into the lobby. Then her gaze found Freddie. “Freddie! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here for this, too! You’ll never believe it.”
The three of them stared at her, waiting.
Cricket smiled, rolling her shoulders back. “Thanks to an antibiotic-resistant UTI, Hannah had to drop out of the play! You’re looking at the new Fairy Wench #2!”
She bowed dramatically before anyone could figure out an appropriate response, then continued. “Obviously, I’ll set aside tickets for everyone to attend my debut. Anne, you already promised to come, so you’re all set. And James and Ellis committed, too, so maybe you can all head over together! Like a party!”
The older woman glared at her a moment longer, then turned and started toward the elevator.
“Do you want me to leave your ticket at will call, Bev?” Cricket yelled after her.
“I’d rather eat glass, Cricket,” the woman replied as she disappeared inside and the doors slid closed.
Cricket was apparently oblivious to the sarcasm. Her smile widened as she turned back to Freddie.
“What about you?” Cricket asked, taking a step toward him. Her voice had lowered to a suggestive whisper. “Can I interest you in a contemporary take on Shakespeare and an incredibly revealing fairy costume?”
Freddie’s mind raced for a plausible excuse. He didn’t enjoy live theater even when it was good, so he could only imagine what was waiting for him on that stage. But then his gaze snagged on Anne.She was watching him from the corner of her eye with that same look she had given him at the party. The one that made him feel like she had already made up her mind about him, already knew exactly what he was going to do—offer a polite excuse and walk away.
It was all the motivation he needed to turn his attention back to Cricket and offer her one of his signature grins. “I’ll be there.”
CHAPTER 11
For a moment, Anne debated missing Cricket’s opening night.
Her rationale was solid: She had promised to attend the play, but she hadn’t explicitly said which night. Anne reasoned that she could attend any show that week and still fulfill her obligation. And really, how could she even consider a night out when she still had to finish up all that paperwork for Theo, and start to go through everything needed for Sophie’s shop?
