Page 83 of Silver Player

“Is that what you want? To live with both of us?” I hesitate. “I know it doesn’t seem ideal to go between homes, but I don’t think Billy and I could ever live together. We’d kill each other.” I humorlessly laugh at the thought. “Besides, he has a house, and I have this apartment. I like my place.” I look around my small room. It isn’t as grand as the Harrington house, but it’s still my home. Not to mention, neither Sadie nor I have been to Billy’s place. It’s like it’s some big secret man cave.

“I’m overdressed,” I mumble to myself in hopes to change the subject. Swiping my long, silvery hair behind my shoulders, I then nervously smooth my hands down my black dress. Snug at the bodice, it hangs fuller from the waist down to just above my knees. The sleeves are long, and I worry I look like I’m attending a funeral instead of a night out. This dress is almost too formal for just dinner, but the dark material contrasts with my eyes, making them stand out. I sigh. I’m overthinking this.

Could you fall in love with him?

The question is not that strange to ask as I feel like I’m already falling.

“He’s going to love it,” Sadie says, standing behind me, and I take her in through the reflection. She’s almost as tall as I am, willowy and thin with that jet-black hair and those Harrington eyes. I see it more and more since Elaina mentioned it. Sadie’s a beautiful girl if only those eyes didn’t still glimmer with sadness. “He’s going to love you.”

“Sadie,” I drone.

“What? I’m sixteen. I know these things.”

I want to ask her what she knows about love, but I remember all the crushes I had when I was her age and all the boys I thought I loved.

“Maybe I should stay home,” I interject. I’ve hardly seen her all week. “We could order pizza and watch a movie.”

“No,” Sadie says a little too forcefully. “I mean…I think Billy’s really looking forward to this.”

Is he? Has he said something? What does she know? The questions curl around my tongue, but I refuse to ask like a teenager. I hate to admit it, but I’ve been looking forward to it myself. The last date I had was with Chad before I moved to Blue Ridge three long years ago. I’m not complaining. The bookstore is my life, but still.

A knock on the door stills us both. Nerves ripple through my belly again, but Sadie gives me a reassuring smile through the mirror.

“He’s going to love you,” she sing-songs as she rushes around me to answer the door for Billy.

I follow Sadie, and my breath catches when I see Billy. He’s wearing a blue blazer over a light denim shirt and dark jeans. He looks amazing. Sadie and I each grab our jackets, and as Billy holds the door for us to leave, he stops me with a hand on my forearm. The smell of him overwhelms me. Cloves and spice and my mouth waters for a sip of him.

“Hey,” he says sheepishly as if he didn’t already greet me.

“Hey, yourself.” I smile and then he leans in and corner kisses my lip.

“I’m excited about tonight.” His eyes dance, and I’m ready to skip the formality of dinner and get to later, whatever later might bring.

I’m in over my head here because for all my denial of the possibility of loving Billy Harrington with Sadie, my heart knows the truth. I’m already head over heels for him. Back against the wall, heart at my feet, willing to give him everything if I could only be assured that he wants me. If I could feel like this is more than casual.

We drop Sadie off at the Harrington home and then head to The Patio, a famous steakhouse, and the only fancy restaurant in the area. It’s an old Victorian home converted on the lower level into dining areas. It’s private and quiet and dark. Billy and I have a small table in the back corner of what I assume was once a parlor. He knows the owner and jokes with the waitress who used to work for him.

“Tell Braxton I want the best steak he has, especially as he stole you from me.”

For some reason, the teasing tone in his statement unsettles me, and I sip my wine while they continue to banter. As the pretty woman with reddish hair and bright blue eyes saunters away, Billy looks at me.

“What?”

“Always a flirt,” I mock, trying hard to swallow the acid in my throat. He shakes his head and crosses his arms on the edge of the table.

“Roxanne.” He exhales my name in frustration, but it also sounds like plea. “Am I at dinner with her?”

“No.”

“Then can we call a truce for one night? No, Billy is a player cracks. No, one-hit-wonder comments. Just you and me tonight. That’s it.” The plea settles to a near whine, begging me, and I swallow.

“I’m sorry. Yes. Yes, let’s just enjoy each other.”

His bark-colored eyes spark with the candlelight at that comment, and a salacious grin curls his lips I’m growing too familiar with. “That’s what I’m hoping. Enjoying each other.”

The innuendo is evident, but I chuckle.

“So I wanted to talk to you about a few things regarding Sadie. I was thinking—”