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Boone laughs and so do I, but he doesn’t let me go. He keeps his face close, eyes lasered to mine. “Weird, but I think it’s right.”
“I wasn’t looking for anything like this.”
“I wasn’t either but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t grab on to it. Can I take you out to dinner tonight?”
“Um…” My eyes cut hard left toward Aiden’s room, then back to Boone. “What would Aiden think?”
Boone releases me but then takes my hand in his, bringing it to his lips. “Trust me… your brother is going to be all for it.”
“How could you know that?” I demand, but I don’t get an answer as Boone leads me back down the hall into Aiden’s room.
My brother is in his bed as we enter and his eyes go right to where we’re holding hands. I try to pull away, but Boone won’t let me go.
I feel the sudden urge to rip free, push Boone out of the room and apologize to my brother for even daring to have a slice of happiness while his world is turned upside down.
Instead, Aiden smirks at Boone. “I knew it.”
“I want to take Lilly out to dinner tonight,” Boone replies. “Any objections?”
Aiden snorts. “You know I don’t.”
I look back and forth between the two. “Am I missing something here?”
Boone once again brings my hand to his lips, brushes a kiss there and releases me. “I’m going to let Aiden explain, but I need to go handle some things. I’ll pick you up at your apartment at seven.”
“But—” I attempt to argue, but it’s moot. Boone shoots a wink at Aiden and leaves.
I turn to my brother and hold my hands out in question. “What the hell?”
“Language, Lilly,” he admonishes and then points to the chair. “But sit down and I’ll tell you all about my secret wish for you and Boone to become boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Are you kidding me?” I demand. “And Boone knows about this?”
“Yeah, we talked about it.”
“So that’s why he kissed me?”
“He kissed you!” Aiden practically yells. I shush him with my finger over my lips but Aiden points at the chair. “Sit down. Tell me everything.”
It’s like a bucket of cold water falls on me. I have something more important to talk about. “We’ll talk about Boone later. I need to tell you about a call I had with Dad when you were on your walk.”
CHAPTER 12
Boone
“What are wedoing at the South Side Marina?” Lilly asks as I pull into a parking spot.
“You’ll see.” I keep it vague as I help her out of the car. I’d told her to dress super warm and she took me seriously. She has on a puffy coat, gloves, a scarf and a cute knit cap with a pom-pom on top.
I take Lilly’s gloved hand in mine and lead her through the gated parking lot to the elevator that leads down to the marina. Because there’s a significant elevation change between the South Side neighborhood’s steep hillside and the marina, we have to take a short ride down.
It’s brisk out, especially once we hit the docks, and I think nothing of putting my arm around Lilly’s shoulders to pull her in close. I was just out here a few hours ago making the necessary arrangements for tonight’s date, so I easily navigate to the appropriate slip where our chartered yacht waits.
I don’t know much about boats. Not even sure what constitutes a yacht, but this thing is big with a separate raised cabin for the captain to navigate from and a private area on the front where we can have dinner while we cruise the Monongahela River.
The dinner isn’t fancy. While I could have ordered a full five-course meal served by a waiter, I asked for a simple picnic basket with meats, cheeses, pasta salad and fruit. I asked for a bottle of white wine as I noticed that’s what Lilly drank at Mario’s last week, but we may not even open it. I’ve got sparkling water too—tonight, it’s whatever she wants.
When we make it to the gangplank that leads from the dock to the boat, Lilly finally understands what we’re doing. She takes in the captain waiting to welcome us aboard, dressed in a starched white uniform with a sailor’s cap and gold braided epaulets on his shoulders.
