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“What if I were to meet someone now? Would you be nice to him? Accept him?”
Mom’s face screwed up ever so slightly, as if she smelled something bad. This conversation wasn’t one she wanted to have—that much was obvious. She no doubt wondered where this all came from. When did her Destelle get interested in boys again? Where could she have met someone? But before she had a chance to ask, Dad called up the stairs. “Come on, ladies, or we’ll be late!”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Mom said, still holding my gaze.
Would we? Or would this conversation slip under the rug, something she didn’t want to deal with?
Knowing that she’d meet Harry in less than a half hour, I figured it probablywouldcome back up.
Once their car safely backed out of the driveway, I put on the yellow dress and looked down at the loose golden fabric. One wrinkle refused to budge, though, and my attention kept drawing back to it.It’s going to be fine, I told myself, staring at my nail polish.It’s not like these are actually sharks you’re feeding him to.
Well, that wasn’t overly comforting.
I still stood up in my room, in my tower, looking at the world below. Not a trace of snow stuck to the ground now, all of it melting away as spring kicked in. The April air was already so refreshing from the long winter. The nights were getting a smidge longer too. Even at nearly seven o’clock, the sun glimmered in the sky.
Since I stared out the window, I saw the exact moment Harry eased his car along the curb of my house. He didn’t pull into the driveway, but he also didn’t park in front of the neighbor’s house like he did last time.
A weight pressed down on my chest, crushing my ribs. Before I could see Harry get out of the car, I stepped back, letting the sheer curtain fall into place.
For what felt like the millionth time, I ran my fingers over that wrinkle, trying in vain to smooth it out. This was his first time seeing me dolled up like this, a drastic change from Stella. Oh, my gosh, what if he didn’t like me like this? I mean, it wasn’t like I normally dressed like a slob around him, but I was wearing a diamond necklace. What if that freaked him out?
The doorbell chimed throughout the house, a melodic sound announcing Harry’s heart-stopping arrival.
Jeez, why was I so nervous about this? Margot had said that they hired the musicians who actually played decent music, so at least Harry and I could dance together. But definitely not like how we’d danced at Downtown. I tried to imagine what everyone’s faces would’ve looked like if they’d seen us dancing like that, with roaming hands and shared breaths. It made me shiver just thinking about it.
The doorbell chimed again, hinting that I’d been imagining that moment longer than I intended to. I grabbed my shawl and hurried down the stairs, already anticipating opening the door.
Harry Russo stood on the other side, straight out of a men’s fashion magazine.
He wore the navy suit we’d picked out at Gilfman on Tuesday, and it fit him like a glove, tight in all the right places. He wore his lightly patterned collared shirt buttoned to his neck, where a matching navy tie wrapped perfectly. It completely obscured any trace of a tattoo.
He’d swept his red hair out of his face, and his blue eyes glittered as they landed on me. And seemed to trace up and down along my body in a slow perusal, one that made all the air in my lungs evaporate.
Harry opened his mouth and quickly closed it, blinking fast. “Wow,” he finally managed.
“Does it look okay?” I asked, raising my shawl and clutch a bit, glancing down at my body.
“Very.” Harry’s voice sounded low.
My lips curved as déjà vu washed over me. “Very okay?”
His eyes held a certain intensity when he replied, “Veryokay.”
I shivered, though I tried to play it as caused by the outside air. I held my sparkly clutch out to him, trying to keep my hand steady. “Can you hold this for a second?”
He took it with ease while I shrugged my shawl on, the furry fabric brushing against my skin. It made me feel fancier than necessary, but the pink Claire-Haute wouldn’t look cute with this yellow dress. “My parents will be mingling when we get there,” I told him, trying to force my thoughts back on track. “So, I’ll just introduce you to whoever is closest to the door first.”
Looking back to Harry, I found he still stared at me like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Pleasure and self-consciousness battled for top spot, with embarrassment being close behind. “G-Got it.”
“And then we can get a drink. They usually serve champagne and don’t care when we take a flute.”
“Got it.”
“You said that already.”
“Yeah, see, I’m tryingreallyhard not to kiss you right now. It’s taking ninety percent of my attention.”
The step I took toward him clattered as my heel clicked on the floor, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning against his chest. “Only ninety percent?”
