AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That will be wonderful.” She nods at that. Then she disperses the kids, sending them off to do their homework.
“By the way,” I say to Dominique, “Paxton has really been interested in volunteering for the program. He wants to get much more hands-on. And you saw how well he just did with those kids when they put him on the spot. He’s great under pressure.” I give him my innocent blink again, fluttering my lashes at him.
Mess with me, will you? Make me pick up your stupid suit? Flirt with me in public and give me grief in private?
Paxton shoots me a panicked look. “Or I could write another check,” he suggests to Dominique.
Dominique beams at him. “You’re so generous!”
Paxton heaves a sigh of relief.
“You’re not off the hook yet,” Summer informs him, and then she starts humming. It takes me just a minute to realize that she’s humming the tune to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring onIit).”
18
RUBY
“Armonk, New York,” Paxton muses. I gave the driver the address that we’re going to. It’s about an hour’s drive and we’re almost there. Of course, I refused to tell him where we’re going, and as part of my date rules for the night, the limo driver can’t tell him either. Best to keep him on his toes.
“What even is an Armonk?” Paxton asks me. He’s dressed casually, in a long-sleeved shirt, like I told him to. So am I. I try not to notice how the shirt clings to his muscular arms.
“It’s a hamlet.”
“Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him.” Paxton actually got the quote right. A lot of people think it’s “Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well.”
I shake my head at him. “Not that kind of Hamlet. A hamlet as in a small rural area. However, also, there’s a method to my madness.”
Paxton arches an eyebrow. “Are we doing a quote-off? Because your choice of location makes me think that something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.”
“The only thing I can promise you is that tonight’s date does not include murder most foul.” I pause to think about this. “Probably. The night is young.”
We’re driving through a long stretch of wooded area, dimly lit by sporadic streetlights. The sky is dark, and I’ve got the window rolled down just a bit to get some fresh air, and the mournful sound of a hoot owl drifts through the air.
“Okay, so far it doesn’t look like we’re going to any kind of restaurant, club, or any other kind of business, since there are no actual buildings here. Or signs of life. Are we going on a Sasquatch hunt? What the heck is there in Ardunk, other than trees, and possibly skunks? I mean Armonk?” Paxton looks at me in annoyance. “This was a long-ass drive. Time is out of joint.”
“Oh, please. We’re just about there; stop being so dramatic. It’s not the witching time of night.”
And with that, our quote-off concludes, because the driver has stopped by a streetlight and is turning right down a driveway hemmed in by neatly trimmed cypress trees.
Paxton can quote Shakespeare like a boss.
I hate it when he does things that make my heart go pitter-pat.
The property is lit by several lampposts, and there’s a large parking area to the right, with at least a dozen cars there already. The limo driver pulls over and parks next to an SUV with a Save the Possums bumper sticker.
I smile in anticipation.
Paxton gives me a suspicious look as I exit the car.
The parking area is next to a blue Queen Anne–style house that’s dripping with ginger-breading, with a wraparound porch, a tower with a witch’s hat, and a steep roof with gables. The Queen Anne is one of my favorite house styles, because they’re beautiful and asymmetrical and none of them look exactly like each other. In this case, the house is also as eccentric as its owner.
“That’s a big front porch,” Paxton observes, as we approach the house.
“Excuse you. I have been doing squats.”
“Hilarious.” But he’s grinning.
“Don’t look happy,” I order him. “This is a torture date.”
