Page 36 of Unforgettable

He chuckled and smoothed a hand over his mouth and jaw to subdue his smile. “Yes, we are.”

“But… but it’s late. They’re closed.”

“Yes, they are.”

I looked around again and made sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. But everything was just the same as I had seen it only a few seconds before. There were signs in the middle of the hall displaying the various new exhibits and the tables at the far end where the small café was were covered in overturned chairs.

“How are we here?” I said loud enough that my voice echoed in the otherwise silent space.

“I called in a favor,” he said with a shrug like it wasn’t a big deal.

“What the hell did you do that meant the return favor got us into the museum after hours?”

“Does it really matter? We’re here, and we have the whole place to ourselves until midnight.” He waved one hand out like he was showing me how much of the place we had.

For likely only the second time in my life, I was nearly beyond words. It had to have been closer to eight, which meant we had four hours to explore. Hopefully that would be enough time.

“Oh, Mr. Gregory, I’m glad to see you’ve made it. Good evening, Ms. Allan.” A man in a black suit and a white shirt sauntered our way from near the ticket area. He held out his hand, which Reed quickly shook with an affable smile. The man offered his hand to me, and with a slight reluctance, I took his hand, still stunned that I was standing in the middle of one of my favorite places on earth after hours.

“Well, as we discussed, the place is yours until midnight. I just ask that you don’t touch any of the exhibits and leave the place just as you found it. Oh, and as a treat, there are two bottles of champagne at the table nearest the entrance of the first exhibit. But otherwise, I hope you both have a great time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Charles,” Reed said. And with a smile and wave, he disappeared back the way he came.

“Start talking,” I said as Reed grabbed my hand and led me to the little table with the champagne.

As he popped the bottle and filled the two glasses, he began to explain. “Charles is the manager, or equivalent, here, and I train both him and his boss. When I mentioned that I may want to bring you here and explained that this was the most important date of my life, he said he would make an exception. We have free rein of the place.”

Reed handed me my glass of bubbles and tapped his own glass against it before taking a small sip. All the while, my mouth was agape.

“Let me get this straight: you help the guy lose a couple of pounds or help him lift weights a few times a week, and in return, we get the museum?” I let the full amount of my uncertainty fill my words.

“Well, that’s not necessarily how it happened, and I do more than just help people lose a couple pounds. But yes, more or less, and for the sake of argument, that’s what happened.”

“I just… this is amazing, Reed. Truly, this is one of the coolest things someone has ever done for me. I’m honestly shocked.” With my hands nearly shaking, I took a sip of the champagne, hoping that the bubbles and alcohol would calm me. But I was swept up in the awe I felt for the man in his perfectly tailored suit standing in front of me. My heart constricted and felt like it was beating overtime as he stepped up and brushed my hair from my face.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Amanda. And this is just the start.”

And if it weren’t for Reed’s eager expression as he gripped my hand, grabbed the bottle of champagne, and urged me forward into the first exhibit, I was sure I would have stayed rooted to the spot in the large room.

TWELVE

Reed

The excitementin Amanda’s voice as she prattled off facts about the body and the joy that lit up her face meant I was suppressing my desire to sprint in the opposite direction. And I’d taken to staring at the dark, carpeted floor, following her by only watching her little black boots and listening to her voice.

“Okay, so this is cool because—” she began but didn’t finish, and I chanced a look up toward her face, hoping I didn’t catch a pair of beady eyes from one of the cadavers or whatever the hell they were called.

But it wasn’t beady eyes I found, just Amanda’s skeptical stare, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed over her chest.

“What?” I asked, feigning confusion.

“Why are you staring at the ground?”

I huffed and did my best to look only at her, which was never that hard since the woman always pulled my attention to her without even trying. “I feel like they’re all looking at me,” I muttered, feeling a little childish but unsettled nonetheless.

She laughed and relaxed as she closed the distance between us, pressing her small palms against my cheeks. “Reed, are you scared of the plastinates?”

“Thewhat? Have you named them?”

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