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The corners of his eyes crinkled, and he went on. “If you don’t want to live in Atlanta, and you want more travel and adventure, then I’ll go with you wherever you want to go.” He inched closer until he was just a breath away.
I closed my eyes for a long blink, a warm rush of happiness flooding my heart. “That’s exactly what I want for Christmas.”
He let out a breath, and his smile broke wide across his face. I wrapped my arms around him, and he hugged me to him, lifting me off the floor with a whoop.
“I love you,” he whispered close to my ear, his breath rustling my hair in a soft way that gave me goose bumps.
“I love you too.”
He set me down and lifted my chin with a gentle finger. “Fly with me to London tomorrow. I’ll show you around, and we can have some time alone together before we come back home.”
“I’d love to.” My pulse pounded with excitement. Now I could admit that I’d always wanted to see London, and I’d never actually hated the city itself. In fact, I think in a couple of days I’d be saying that London and I were irrevocably in love.
At the moment, though, I was feeling thankful to NYC. If it wasn’t for Lindsay’s destination wedding here, I wouldn’t be flying off into the sunset—or sunrise since London is east—with Josh. New York had not only made good on its IOU, but it had paid me interest.
I lifted up on my toes and kissed Josh. The undeniable river of passion washed over me as I leaned into the man I loved.
There was a thump and a clatter behind me. Josh and I sprang apart.
Tanner was slumped over in his seat. My adrenaline spiked along with my guilt. I’d forgotten all about him. I ran to his side, Josh right behind me.
When I reached him, what I found was not Tanner.
What I found was a store mannequin with a broken arm that looked a lot like Josh dressed in a tuxedo.
I blinked, my mind reeling. Huh. That little ring bearer had told me my boyfriend’s arm had fallen off, and he’d handed me something—the handkerchief—and I’d laughed, completely disregarding it. What if it hadn’t been a handkerchief? What if it was a mannequin arm? Tanner’s arm. I shook my head. No way. Tanner wasn’t just a mannequin. I hadn’t been that out of touch with reality, had I?
Josh got on the other side of the mannequin and picked up the arm from the floor. “Did Tanner just turn into a mannequin?”
My gaze snapped to him, and I chewed my bottom lip. “That’s not possible, right? I mean, you knew Tanner. He was a real guy.”
Josh nodded. “I did. I knew him. I punched him. And got his punches in return. He was a real guy.”
“So it’s not possible that he’s a mannequin now. Right? I mean, that doesn’t happen.”
Josh shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I can’t explain it. Nobody came in, and Tanner didn’t leave.”
I rubbed my chin. “That we saw. We were pretty preoccupied.”
Josh bent to inspect the mannequin’s face. “And it’s sitting right where Tanner was sitting.”
“But it’s impossible.”
He leaned away and put his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Definitely. Impossible.”
“And yet.” My head pulled back as I tightened my lips.
He lifted a shoulder. “Exactly. And yet.”
I thought about Lindsay’s claim that I was dating a mannequin and Isla’s and Janet’s comments about my dating a mannequin and Mom crying and hugging me after she saw me kissing Tanner on the street.
I put a hand to my forehead. “Oh my gosh! I’ve been dating a mannequin.”
Josh’s eyes were wide. I waited for him to tell me I was being ridiculous, but his expression clearly said he was as lost as I was. I picked up the mannequin’s arm. “Will you help me?”
“Of course. With what?”
I nodded to the mannequin. “Carrying the rest of Tanner. The last thing he asked me was if I would please take him back to the store.”
