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He shook his head, again pointing at my nose. “Little bit to the left.”
I rubbed the right side of my face. “All gone?”
“Yep.” His eyes returned to his plate, then he glanced back up at me from beneath his blond lashes. “You’re picture perfect.”
Holding up his phone, he committed my image to digital memory. I kept eating, mostly because it was cheesecake and...well, there didn’t have to be another reason. Alex’s dessert consumption was slower, as the mess on my nose seemed to be distracting him. He must have wondered if I really didn’t know it was there. Every minute or so, he opened his mouth as if to tell me, then huffed and shook his head.
Stuffed to the gills, I laid my half-empty plate down on the blanket and leaned back on my elbows. “Now that I’ve eaten and am too full to run away, tell me the meaning of all this. Why are we here?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t take it anymore.” He laid his plate beside mine, took a napkin from the basket, wiped my nose clean, then sat back, mirroring my pose. “There’s no ulterior motive. No evil plot. I heard about these gardens in Manhattan where the keys are passed from generation to generation and figured we’d both get a kick out of seeing it.”
I rubbed my palms on my jeans and thought about that. From the second I’d breached the gates, I’d found it enchanting. This wasn’t a place I’d ever imagined going, but then, I never knew it existed. I liked that Alex brought me somewhere only a few knew about.
“You thought right,” I said.
He’d probably been hoping for something more from me, but we both knew I wasn’t a gusher, and I hadn’t quite wrapped my head around what precisely was going on here.
I offered him just a bit more to make the broody frown tugging at his mouth go away. “Thank you, Alex.”
His mouth lifted and he sat forward, steepling his hands. “You’re welcome, Yael. And just so you know, this is only stop one of our date. I have somewhere else in mind I’m pretty damn excited to take you to.”
“I’m scared. Is that going to be where the murder happens?”
He laughed, shaking his head like he always did. “I’d have murdered you a long time ago if that was part of the plans. Besides, the press knows we’re together. Too many witnesses.”
“Oh, right, of course. Silly me.”
Still grinning, he picked up his guitar. “Can I play you something I’ve been working on?”
“You want to play me a song?”
He ran his long fingers over his well-loved instrument. “I’ve written a few songs. I’m not Santi or Mo, but I’ve got a couple thoughts in my head. I’m thinkin’ this one might make it on the album.”
I wondered if this was a trap. I looked at it from all angles and couldn’t figure outhowhe could turn this into something that would hurt me, but I also couldn’t figure out exactly why he’dwantmy opinion.
“Go ahead, but if my tits are mentioned, I’m out of here.”
Alex mimed crossing something off his hand, then shot me with a sheepish grin. “It’s not finished, but I want you to tell me if it’s a piece of shit or if I’ve got something here.”
He plucked at the strings, strumming with confidence. Then he opened his mouth and sang. At first, his husky voice took me by so much surprise, I didn’t hear the lyrics. But once I did, I finally found his angle.
They look at us and they don’t see
Everything this girl has done to me
She’s stripped me down to the studs
And when she looked at me, my heart went thud
My beat-up heart became hers as well
Oh yeah, my ol’ ship had already sailed
Eyes narrowed, chest filled with a billowing rage, I shot to my feet and walked away without a word. Heavy footsteps quickly followed, but I only walked faster. I had almost reached the gate when Alex rounded on me, blocking my path.
He rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks painted red. Mine felt just as red, but strangely, he didn’t seem angry. I would have said confused based on his wide eyes and open mouth, but that didn’t make sense.
“What the hell, Yael? You hated it that much? I knew I was a shit writer, but I never thought you’d walk out in—”
