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He took the lid off a to-go cup of drawn butter. “I think the fund-raiser can carry on without me.”

“Are you just trying to make me feel better that you had to leave to make sure I didn’t die attached to a ceiling fixture?”

He laughed.

I drew my eyebrows down. “How did you get here so fast?” I looked over all the stuff he brought. “I called you and you came in, like, ten minutes. How’d you get all this ready and steal a garnish and still make it to rescue me in under an hour?”

He cleared his throat and talked to the food he was setting out. “I was already on my way with it.”

I pulled my face back. “You were on your way home when I called you? Your thing started at six thirty. It’s seven fifteen. Did you just show up with a bag and start pillaging? You weren’t planning on staying?”

“I guess not.”

I watched him opening more containers. “Why?”

He didn’t answer me for a long moment. “I just figured you had a rough day and might want to watch TV with someone.”

I blinked at him.

Those tickets were $200 apiece. I checked. I wanted one so I could go with him—not that he’d invited me to. But I would have shamelessly crashed the place if the thing hadn’t been sold-out.

There was a silent auction and a raffle, live music and dancing. The event ran until midnight. He rented a tux. And he just…left? To watch TV with me?

Either he really hated hanging out with Marcus or he really liked The Office.

Or hey, maybe he has a massive crush on me, can’t stand to be away from me, had to get back to me as soon as possible.

Ha ha.

“Do you want to see my surprise?” he asked.

“This isn’t it?”

He smiled and got up. I watched him draw the curtain back on my sliding glass door.

My hands flew to my mouth.

There, on the tiny snow-covered bistro table on my balcony, was an ice sculpture of a swan.

“Came right off the dessert buffet.” He put a hand up. “Don’t worry, I didn’t steal it. I donated a couple hundred bucks for it. They were more than happy to let me have it.”

I shook my head. “You carried that up here?” I breathed.

“It’ll be there until spring. Every time you see it, I want you to remember that I put that dripping ice cube in my coupe for you.”

My heart tugged. It reached out for him uselessly like arms trying to stretch across an ocean.

He was perfect. He was perfect in every single way.

All I ever wanted was to live. To grow old and have more time. And now I had something else I wanted as much as that.

I wanted him.

And neither one was probably ever going to be mine.

CHAPTER 14

THESE PEOPLE ARE EATING DINNER IN A DUMP AND YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHY!