“Well,” she said. “I’ve learned not to judge a book by its cover…or a colleague by the rumors that follow them.”
“As have I, sunshine.” I squeezed her hip.
We finished the dance and I leaned in as the music slowed, about to transition to the next song. “Meet me in the hallway leading to the front door in five minutes. Don’t be late.”
“What? Why?”
“Don’t ask questions. Just do it.” I let go and made my way back to my table, then let Coen know I was leaving. He gave me a look, but was so enamored with Dr. Thatcher, he didn’t give me a hard time.
Weaving through the crowd, I made it a point to avoid Ambrose and Cerise’s mother, when I ran into Emberly.
“Oh, hello,” I said. “Just to let you know so you don’t worry, I’m leaving and taking Cerise with me.”
Emberly crossed her arms. “Why does it sound like you’re kidnapping her?”
“Because she’ll probably initially refuse, but I am quite persistent.”
“That you are. You two have fun.” She gave me a wink and disappeared.
I hurried to the hallway to find Cerise already waiting. “You’re late,” she said.
“At least I’m predictable.”
Cerise laughed. “So what’s this about?”
I strode forward, took her hand in mine and pulled her after me toward the door. “We’re leaving.”
She tugged away like I knew she would. “What? No. It’s not over yet.”
I turned around to face her. “I knew you’d say that. Listen, Emberly knows. You were present for the important part of the evening. Now let’s have the fun part.”
She hesitated, looking in between me and the door. “Well…”
“Listen, Cerise. I was helping you find your fun and then we got inconveniently interrupted when we were rescued.”
“Are you saying that us being rescued when we were lost in the jungle wasinconvenient?”
I bit down on a grin. “That’s literally what I just said. I wasn’t done helping you yet. So we’re going to pick up where we left off.”
“And where is that?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises, Liam.”
“I’m aware. But I’m still not telling you. Now are you coming or not?”
Chapter 32
Beer & Brawls
Cerise
“Ican’t believe I’m doing this,” I said, walking beside Liam along the lamplit cobblestone streets.
We were in a lively part of town, laughter and music filtering out each time a patron entered or left an establishment. Neither Liam nor I lived here, but he’d visited before and seemed to know his way around.
“This is going to be delightful. I promise,” Liam said, reaching for my hand and lacing our fingers together.
