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“That better not be sexual innuendo. I don’t care to think of my boss in that way.”
Emilia turned to her bathroom mirror, avoiding Ally’s probing stare. “No comment.”
And once again, the two women burst into laughter.
“Ish.” Ally swiped a tear from her eye, sighing as though she needed to catch her breath. “This is gonna be a heck of a fun night.”
“You think people will be pissed about seeing me at the soiree with Blaine?” All day, Emilia had imaged a multitude of leers and whispers, all because she, a relative stranger, had nabbed their golden boy away from Sarah… probably Harlow’s golden girl.
“Pfft, even if they are pissed, they’ll have to learn to mind their own business and survive. You’ve got nothing to worry about, okay?” Ally swatted a hand, just as the crunch of tires over gravel sounded from outside. “Betcha that’s Blaine now. We should go.”
Emilia double-checked the crisscross of silk ribbons around her waist, her pulse speeding up. For all intents and purposes, she looked every inch the enchanted fairy, but she didn’t feel like one. For a self-confessed introvert, as much as she’d looked forward to the soiree’s novelty, socializing and being watched left a hot prickling between her shoulder blades.
She followed close behind as Ally raced down the hall, soon swinging the front door wide open just as Blaine held his hand up, ready to knock.
Ally stumbled back. “Geez Louise, watch the face!”
When it appeared she was safe,she landed a hurried kiss on his face, leaving a fuchsia lip print on his left cheek.
She ducked under his arm, laughing and running toward her car, escaping the scene of her lipstick crime. “See you both at Mirabella Falls. Emilia, probably no need to pack any knives in your purse tonight.”
She gave a high and excited wave, followed by another cackle before sliding into the driver’s seat.
By the time Emilia turned back to Blaine, he held a confused glower. “Knives?”
She shook her head. “Just don’t ask.”
A beat passed, and his gaze slid over her face and then down her body, a wide, childish grin lighting his expression. “You look incredible.”
“The same goes for you.” She stepped forward and used the heel of her hand to wipe the lipstick off his cheek, her heart pounding at a break-neck pace because he smelled incredible, all smoky and somehow crisp. The billowy, white shirt he wore pulled wide at the collar, revealing the thin sprinkling of pale brown hair over his sculpted chest.
She whipped her focus up to his face, and the thick waves curled over his brow, his hair styled in a deliberate and delectable mess. The man resembled a steamier version of a Shakespearian hero, minus the tight stockings, feathered cap, or the hard-to-understand ye old English…
She laughed at that thought, and a roguish smirk took over his lips. Deciding to end the bone-melting stare-off before she literally melted, she nodded to his costume. “Which character are you meant to be?”
“Lysander.” His eyes did another obvious scan of her body, her heart pulsing again in response. “What about you?”
“Hermia.”
He quirked a brow. “That’s ironic.”
He was kind of right. Hermia did make for an ironic choice—a character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream who’d been adamant she wouldn’t marry the man her father chose for her, her heart belonging to someone else—Lysander.
So yeah, there was irony here, though so far, their misadventure hadn’t yet resulted in the play’s same happily ever after.
One day, maybe, one day…
She took his hand, allowing him to guide her to his truck. “You know, for a carpenter, you have a strong grasp of Shakespeare.”
“That’ll teach you to make assumptions about a man’s profession.” He opened the car door for her and waited for her to climb in. “Though I did look up the play’s summary online, so maybe your doubts have some basis.”
He joined her in the truck’s cozy cab, his analytical stare holding while his hand poised over the ignition. “You smell different.”
She pointed to the crown of flowery vines on her head. “It’s jasmine.”
“You look like a dream tonight, you know that?” His gaze lingered for a while longer, before snapping to outside the windscreen as if he’d come to his senses. “Shit! We should go. Otherwise, we won’t make it to this party.”
She let out a soft chuckle. “We won’t?”
The depth of green in his eyes relaxed over his easy smile. “Let’s just say, unlike you, who snored for hours last night, I hardly slept a wink.”
She gave him a playful slap on the arm. “I don’t snore.”
“Okay, fine, it was more of a cute rattle than a snore.” He backed out of her driveway, his grin staying put as he looked over his shoulder. “But my point is, if you were worried that our presence at the soiree might make us stars of this town’s rumor mill, you should be. Tonight, I plan to prove every one of those rumors about us true.”
