“One of thegreats.”
“Hey, Dean,” I called back. “So are you.”
“Aw, shucks.” He hunched his shoulders, touched, and went to line up with the other hopefuls.
I wandered away from the festivities, listening as the crowd noise grew loud and quiet over and over, like someone messing with the volume on a speaker. I found a relatively secluded spot and leaned against a wooden crate. The late October night was cold and getting colder as winter came on, but the sky was clear and glittered with a thousand stars, like diamonds. The constellation, Orion, was stark and obvious in the night sky.
Et tu, universe?
“We’re missing it,” said a voice.
Thatvoice. That smooth British tenor that sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach as if I were any other girl with a crush on a boy instead of the one who had to grow up too fast and be the adult in her house. If I just closed my eyes, I could pretend I was that girl and have the fairy tale…
I turned and braced myself for Orion.
Ha. Good luck with that.
He stood in the light from one of the many old-fashioned streetlamps that dotted the farm. It bathed him in a golden light, and up close, him in that suit… It was dark blue with white pinstripes, and tailored to his lean, athletic body. The scarlet kerchief was a red rose blooming out of his breast pocket, and the fedora cut angular shadows on his jaw bone.
“What are we missing?” I said. “Orion…?”
His dark-eyed gaze was soaking me in. “Sorry, I just… You are soincredibly beautiful.”
“Oh, um. Thanks.” My hands smoothed down the silky front of the dress as I struggled to catch my breath. No guy had ever said something like that to me before. “It’s not ‘sexy kitten,’ but…”
“You made that dress, didn’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Orion groaned. He tossed his hat on a nearby hay bale and leaned against the wheel beside me. “What are we going to do with you, Bennett? I wastryingto pay you a compliment.”
“I know,” I said. “But I don’t know what to do with the compliments, so I deflect with sarcasm. Classic coping mechanism.”
“We’ll have to work on that. So. Are you having a nice time withXander Ford? Or is itDean Yearwood? You two looked rather cozy on the dance floor.”
I tapped my chin. “Remind me who is who again? I have so many dates, they all start to blend together…”
“Hmph.”
“Didn’t take you for the jealous type.”
“I didn’t either.” Orion glanced at me sideways. “I’ve found my world rather upended these days.”
“Likewise,” I said. His cologne tonight was smoky and woodsy and smelled expensive, and he wore just enough to make a girl stupid. “You look…well.”
“Do I?” He grinned. “I lookwell.”
No, you look ridiculously handsome.Morethan enough to make a girl stupid.
“I meant, you look recovered from the other night.”
“Oh, that.” He waved a hand. “I knew I would. Still. It was good of you to come and weep over me.”
“Oh, hush up.”
His gaze softened. “I mean it. I appreciate it more than I can say. And you inspired me.”
“You went to the Student Health Office and got yourself checkedout?”
