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“Can you imagine how much I could learn in thirty minutes with her on the show?”
“I love that you’re always learning.” I did. It was one of the sexiest things about her.
“Grow or die, baby. Grow or die.”
Chuckling, I shook my head, simply smiling at her smiling.
“What about you? If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?”
I slid her palm back into mine, pleased when she curled her fingers around me. “Present company aside?”
That tiny hitch in her breath as her eyes darted to me before returning to the bustling sidewalk was sexier than it had any right to be. Mischief sparked a beat before she used her free hand to toss her hair over her shoulder with a quippy eye roll. “Obviously.”
“Living or dead?” I pressed as I guided her behind me while a group of boisterous young men took up more than their share of the walkway. She gave a thoughtful little hum, barely audible against the onslaught of the city.
“Living.”
“Mmm. Keanu Reeves.”
“What!?” An elated little yip burst out of her lips as I guided her back to my side, trading her hand for my arm over her shoulders, tucking her against me. She reached up the opposite hand to lace through my fingers, my heart hammering harder. “Like The Matrix guy?” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me for some kind of tell. Knowing El, she’d find it if it was there to find.
“Why so surprised?”
“I just…expected a scientist, or philanthropist, or maybe one of the less corrupt politicians,” she said thoughtfully, still studying me.
“Too predictable,” I supplied.
“Is it the tragic backstory or the charitable contributions?”
“Dude just seems…inordinately good. All of that pain, and he still goes out of his way to help people. Of all the celebrities flashing their wealth around, I think an hour with Keanu would be…wholesome. Insightful. I bet he knows things the rest of us don’t.”
“I know Kung-Fu,” she said in a hilariously accurate imitation, those years in theater class resurfacing.
“Ahhh, I should’ve known I’d regret this.”
She cackled skyward, and I gave her hand a little squeeze, not willing to head back to the hotel yet. Not willing to let this little bubble of…stolen time burst.
“Nah, you’re right,” she said, hip bumping me and giggling as our path bent in that direction for a beat before getting back on course. “I bet he’d be pretty chill. Insightful, but chill.”
The ostentatious drive and classy illuminated sign for our resort became visible ahead, right as another rowdy limo zoomed past us. Too soon. I wasn’t done with her. With us. Doing something fun for once. Glancing around, I thanked every member on the event board for selecting this insane city for our meeting point, because down half a block and across the street was a glowing sign for a gelato shop, with a line of people out the entrance after ten pm. Long live Las Vegas. I jerked my chin in that direction, watching as she tracked the movement.
“Still a cookies and cream girl?”
Her eyes widened as a slow smile hooked her lips to one side a beat before she shrugged off my arm, catching my hand as it fell away so that she could yank me toward the light that just went red, the crosswalk filling with pedestrians. Demanding little thing.
Flashing a grin over her shrugging shoulder, she quipped, “Always.”
FOURTEEN
ELORA
Fingers still a little sticky from the gelato, I wiped them against my dress before swiping the photo booth strip from the machine and waving it at Broderick. Much to my satisfaction, he rolled his eyes before I glanced down to the evidence of our evening on the town. The man actually stuck his tongue out in the last one with me.
“Awe, it’s cute,” I chirped, grinning down at our goofy ass faces. Even clowning around with me, the man was fucking adorable.
…Especially clowning around with me.
There was something so liberating about being away from home—maybe that’s why we loved to travel so much. To go somewhere we could shed our skins covered in labels bestowed by neighbors who still remembered us in diapers and exchange them for suits all our own. Whether they were silly, free and lighthearted, or quiet and reserved after a lifetime of serving, travel brought out…the authentic layers in people they rarely revealed otherwise.
