Page 20 of No Headlines Please

Delaney was still talking. "And if you need to bow out, I totally understand."

I blinked. "Bow out?"

"Yeah. You know. Cancel." She looked down. "Because I've gotta be honest. Unless you want to be seen with a total troll, I'd need at least twenty more minutes to be remotely presentable."

I did the math.

If she had stayed upstairs and finished getting ready, she would've been only ten minutes late. Not a big deal.

And yet, I didn't wait ten minutes for anyone.

Still, it wasn't lost on me that for her, I'd been waiting thirty already. Odder still, I wasn't annoyed.

I was fascinated.

Why were things with her so different?

Almost before I knew it, I'd already said, "Don't worry. I'll wait." When she smiled, something warm loosened in my chest.

Still, she asked, "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Positive." Crazy as hell, I meant it, too. "Take your time."

She laughed. "Well, I won't take that long. If I don't hurry, I'll be eating that hydrangea." But then she froze. "Not because I'm desperate. It's just I've been traveling all day and never got the chance to eat."

Right. The suitcase. The way it looked, she'd done some of that traveling on foot.

She had a story alright.

Before I could reply, she had already turned away, hustling toward the elevators while calling back over her shoulder, "I'll hurry, I promise!"

But just as she reached them, she stopped and turned around. "Wait a minute…I just remembered something. I still don't know your name."

Fuck.

But what the hell had I been thinking?

Of course, we'd eventually exchange names. And I was a lot of things, but no liar. Bracing myself, I just said it. "It's Maddox."

For a split second, she just looked at me. And then she smiled. "Funny, you look like a Maddox. I'm Delaney, by the way. Anyway, see you in a bit."

And with that, she hustled into the nearest elevator, its doors still open from her trip downstairs. She hit a button and gave me a cheery little wave before the doors slid shut, leaving me alone in the lobby.

Once again, I was smiling – and this time, for more reasons than one. Apparently, she had no idea who I was. And for all kinds of reasons, it seemed smarter to keep it that way.

8

Wine First, Baggage Second

Delaney

Fighting a frown, I looked up from the menu and whispered to Maddox across the table. "There are no prices."

His eyebrows lifted. "And that's a problem?"

Actually, it was. The restaurant – if you could even call it that – looked wildly expensive.

The entire place had a polished, old-money vibe that made me suddenly aware there were levels of wealth that even my mom might've found intimidating.