Page 74 of Find My Way Down to You

He can’t see me.

Inhaling, I quickly wiggle out of the joggers. “Will Henri be there?”

“Always.”

“And Poppy?”

“Oh, yes. She would not miss it.” I hear a fondness in his voice, even though he’s obviously trying to hide it.

I slide on the suit’s slacks. Then button the shirt. The jacket melts around my body, fitting me perfectly.

“Will you stay?”

I step from around the screen. His back is still to me. I clock his look from the long coat to his black boots. Not exactly ballroom attire.

His head tips back to watch the floating clouds. “Why? Do you need more supervision?”

“I can handle myself.”

“Can you? History says otherwise.”

I let out a loud breath. “Why are you trying to ruin this for me?”

“I—” Whatever Cary is about to say fades as he finally turns around.

Our eyes meet.

He stares at me like—I wish I knew. It’s not the same way Milos does. Or how London used to. This is different. Cary watches me with a reverence that pulls a blush into my cheeks and twines strangely around my belly.

Shyly, I take my eyes off him. In the mirrored wall, my fingers tiptoe over the jacket’s flowers. The precise lines of the silhouette. Warmth tingles against my skin. Soft, silky, alive.

Magic.

“This is the first time I’ve worn anything this nice.”

I fiddle with the lapels. They look crooked. Or maybe it’s my posture.

Cary inches closer. With a sure, strong grip, he rotates me toward him. His hands bat mine away from the suit and I almost jerk back. He smooths the material. A poised and calm touch unlike my own nervous fidgeting.

Immediately, the jacket responds, the petals shivering with relief. “There,” he says. “You—it looks great.”

The tops of his cheeks flush.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I haven’t had a suit on since—” My voice cuts out.

In the empty space, two words sit sourly on my tongue:his funeral.

Cary considers me like he already knows what I almost said.

My head spins. Was he there when the accident happened?And afterward? Did he come to the hospital? Did he find London’s soul in the morgue?

When did Cary take him away from me?

All the questions eddy through me. Building into a whirlpool I’m scared to get lost in.

But it’s Cary’s eyes that rescue me. There’s a surprising tenderness in them. An unspokenyou don’t have to say itthat I’m grateful for.

“I’ve never been to a ball before,” I tell him. “Or any formal dance.”