She hip-checks me. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Too late. I’m already full of ideas.”
“One day at a time, remember?”
“Right. One day at a time.” I pause. “But just so we’re clear, when we do get married?—”
“Romeo!”
“What? I said when, not tomorrow.”
She shakes her head but she’s smiling. “You’re impossible.”
“That’s why you love me.”
She stops walking. For a second I think I pushed too far. Then she says quietly, “Yeah. It is.”
My heart stops. “JuJu?—”
“I’m not saying it yet,” she says quickly. “But... yeah.”
It’s not the words. But it’s close. Close enough that I can be patient. We start walking again, almost at the ballroom doors now.
“Hey,” I say. “You remember this morning? The conversation we had?”
“Which conversation? We had several.”
“The one about the jetted tub.”
She looks at me. “I remember.”
“I promised you bubbles and stolen champagne and a completely inappropriate use of hotel amenities.”
“You did promise that.”
“Want to get out of here?”
I can see her internal debate - the responsible maid of honor versus the woman who wants what I’m offering.
“Yes,” she says. “Go steal some champagne.”
23
JULIETTE
He walks right upto the bar, sleeves rolled up, jacket thrown over one shoulder, the bruise on his jaw darker now.
“Hey man,” Rodriguez says to the bartender. “Can I grab a bottle of champagne? For the road?”
“You want to buy a bottle?”
“I want to acquire a bottle. Through whatever means necessary.”
The bartender looks at him, at his face, then at me standing there in my bridesmaid dress.
“You’re the guy who got in a fight earlier, aren’t you?”
“That’s me.”
