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‘Can I head out that way?’ he asked pointing to the exit door at the side of the stage.
He wasn’t concerned about getting harassed again, everyone was keeping a respectable distance as they made their way to their seats – give or take a few curious stares. Ruby had assured him The Royale community wouldn’t break his cover. And he believed her, because while Ruby looked like a pushover in a lot of respects – with her misty eyes and her freckled nose and her movie-mad philosophy of life – he knew how fierce she could be too, after having her ream him out over his refusal to scatter his uncle’s ashes.
‘Actually, it’s alarmed,’ Ruby said, but her gaze flicked away when she said it. Was she lying? Why?
‘Okay, I’ll head through the lobby, see you around.’ He shoved his hands into his pockets, ducked his head and prepared to make his way through the crowd.
But then her fingers landed on his arm. ‘Luke, wait.’
He shot a look at her hand, annoyed by the ripple of awareness that shot up his arm.
She lifted her fingers immediately, making him regret giving her the death stare.
‘Would you … would you let us pay you back for the materials, and everything else you’re doing?’ she said, so earnestly he was forced to stand still and listen.
‘I told you, Ruby this is business, I can …’
‘Not in money,’ she butted into his explanation. ‘We’d love to have you as our guest of honour again, for tonight’s Matty’s Classic. And for the other Matty’s Classics screenings while you’re in London. You know, so we can thank you for helping us out. When you really didn’t have to.’
‘I got ordered to by a magistrate’s court,’ he pointed out, but she rode roughshod over the comment.
‘It would mean so much to us all to have a Devlin in The Royale again.’
***
Please say yes, please say yes, please please please say yes.
Ruby watched the muscle jump in Luke’s cheek.
He wanted to say no. That much was blatantly obvious. And she was pretty sure he’d figured out her little ruse to
trap him here until the show started.
But he didn’t say no straight away. He simply levelled that inscrutable stare at her, as if he were trying to gauge what was really going on.
She attempted to look as guileless as she could – not easy when her heart was beating so hard she was surprised she hadn’t passed out.
Luke was a cynical man. He didn’t believe in the magic of the movies, or their power to transform lives and people.
But Luke was also the man who had sung a show tune and gotten arrested for an uncle he’d never met. And the man who had relocated to London for a month or more to help fix a dilapidated cinema he planned to sell. He had also laughed at her Optimus Primer joke. Which meant Luke Devlin was not a completely lost cause.
Just like Hugh Grant’s Will Freeman.
If an egocentric dick like Will could discover his warm and fuzzy side with a little help from a nerdy kid and his hippie mum, then Luke could discover his warm and fuzzy side, too.
She held her breath waiting for his answer, not entirely sure anymore that getting Luke to discover his warm and fuzzy side so she could get him to help save The Royale was the only thing at stake.
‘What’s the movie tonight?’ he asked.
Ruby’s breath gushed out so fast she felt dizzy.
Of course saving The Royale was the only thing at stake here. This wasn’t about getting to sit next to him again for the duration of another movie, it couldn’t be. She refused to be that desperate.
‘About a Boy,’ she said. ‘Matty loved it. He always said Hugh Grant was at his hottest playing complete and utter bastards.’
‘Never heard of it,’ he said, but the muscle in his cheek had unclenched.
It was enough for Ruby to start feeling light-headed again. ‘Well then, you’re in for a massive treat.’
