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“Then what—” Amelia starts again.
“Kiss her!” the woman barks at me.
Something in the deep recesses of my mind or my soul or my heart has prepared me for this eventuality without any conscious planning on my part because instead of gasping or dropping my chin to the floor, I’m instantly turning toward Amelia, registering her slight nod of encouragement, and capturing her mouth with mine.
My arms wrap around her back, clasping her to me. My mouth coaxes hers as I pour ten years of missing her and uncounted years before that of repressed puppy love into that kiss full of longing.
Her lips are sweet and full. They mold against mine lightly at first, then with increasing pressure. I deepen the kiss and her hand grabs a handful of my shirt, crumpling it. She flattens herself against me. More parts of me than my soul wake up at the tender aching she coaxes in my core.
When I pull away, Amelia stumbles and I catch her, supporting her back with my arm. Her cheeks are pink. She’s only a little breathless when she steps away and stands under her own power. She faces Mrs. Foster, looking as dazed as I feel. She raises her chin. “My fiancé and I arefullycommitted.”
Sadie’s answering laugh is a cackle. “I can see that. Okay. Y’all can come on in. I’ll get the clue for you.” She holds the door open, and I grab it and help Amelia through before following.
“Let me see.” Sadie looks around. “Where did I leave that very important clue?” She glances back at us with a wry look.
I feel Amelia stiffen beside me, probably fearing—like me—that we’re going to be here for hours as Sadie Foster searches her house for a clue that doesn’t exist, but the matchmaker walks over to the hutch in the kitchen, opens the first drawer on the right, and pulls out an envelope.
“Here it is!” She holds it up in the air with a triumphant smile.
Amelia’s hand twitches, and she reaches for it. Mrs. Foster hesitates with a shrewd expression, but after a beat she releases the envelope to Amelia, and all of us start breathing again.
“Thank you,” Amelia says and runs out of the house.
ChapterFive
Amelia
Oliver follows me out to the car. I’m glad I was fast and he’s a step behind, because I don’t want him to see my face. Since the moment he placed his lips on mine, my skin has blazed. I’m sure the vast confusion of my emotions, churning wildly as they are, are written all over my flushed face.
Oliver was my childhood friend. As an adult, he’s a perfect stranger. But thatkiss. That kiss wassomething. A flame. A fire. An awakening.
What do I think of this? Of Oliver? Of Oliver’s lips? I absolutely shouldn’t think of Oliver’s lips. I’m finally holding the clue to the location of the legendary book in my hot little hand. The book is my focus. Felicity’s happiness is my priority. Not Oliver’s lips.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” I blurt.
His eyebrows twitch. “No, I don’t. Why?”
“No one waiting for you back in the Windy City?” I press.
“No. Why are you asking?”
Because I’ve started to become preoccupied with your lips…but I don’t say it. “Just making sure we’re not disrespecting anyone with this, uh, fake relationship we just staged.”
“Ah. No. Free and clear. Like you, I think you said.”
“Yeah. Okay. Good. No one to worry about then.” Just the miles and miles of space between the two places we each call home. Not that I should be thinking of that. That kiss may have been knee-buckling, but it was fake. I need to remember that. Often.
“What does the clue say?” Ollie opens the driver’s side door for me.
I stare down at the unopened envelope in my hand. “I don’t know yet. I’ll open it in the car.”
“Oh.” He goes around to the other side, and we both get in. I feel like this is a big moment, and there should be more ceremony, more fanfare, as I unveil the clue. But if I wait to build up to something like that, my mind will stray back to Oliver’s lips while I’m waiting. No more picturing Oliver’s lips.
I tear into the envelope. There’s an index card inside with a few lines typed onto it.
I have six sides
But I’m not a die
