Page 90 of The Ruse

“Offer to be her escort to the debutante ball,” Hunter said. “Put the feelers out there when she gets back tonight and see if you can make it happen.”

“You really think I should?” My hands felt sweaty at the thought of doing that. Scarlett had said Elyse had never asked a guy out, but it would probably surprise her that I’d never asked a girl out. Bailee had arranged everything between us, and I’d never cared enough about anyone else to put myself out there before.

Never felt like I ever had a chance with any of the high-society girls from our school when I didn’t have a trust fund of my own.

Hunter shrugged. “It’s fair game until she has a ring on her finger.”

“Nash isn’t going to propose.” Scarlett swatted Hunter on the arm like he was ridiculous for saying that.

But I understood the sentiment. And from the look Hunter got in his eyes after the brief touch from Scarlett, I wondered if he was trying to tell himself the same thing.

He’d told me that Scarlett’s dad was trying to set her up with some older guy who was a family friend. Was Hunter working up the courage to put himself out there again, too?

“We’re watching a movie in the common room tonight,” Scarlett said. “If you happen to be watching it with us, you’ll be down there when she gets back and can pull her aside to ask her.”

“You think I should just flat-out ask her if I can be her escort?”

That was bold. Even for me.

“Or you could just return her script to her room,” Hunter said with a shrug. “That’s probably what I’d do.”

“Okay…” I sighed, considering this plan they were making for me. “Guess I’ll be watching the movie with you then.”

25

ELYSE

“Doyou have any fun plans for winter break?” Nash asked me after the server brought our plates to the table.

We were sitting at a table on the indoor balcony of a fancy Italian restaurant in the heart of New York, and he was looking like a male model just fresh off the runway in his navy-blue suit.

When Nash told me he wanted to go all out and dress up for our night out on the town, I’d assumed he’d show up looking dashing in a suit, since he always dressed well.

But I had not expected to be stricken speechless when he walked up the steps to the school to escort me to the Escalade. Or to suddenly be tongue-tied when I realized he’d dressed up like this solely for me.

Even now, sitting across from him, I found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying because I was so into how good he looked.

But he’d asked me a question just barely, right?

Oh yeah. He was wondering about my plans for winter break.

“I’m going to be celebrating Winter Solstice with my dad, Mack, and Ava on the twenty-first,” I said, focusing on spinning some of the fettuccini from myscialatielli alla sicilianaonto my fork so he wouldn’t realize how much I liked staring at him. “And then, Ava and I will head to my mom’s place here in Manhattan to celebrate Christmas with our mom before the debutante ball.”

There I did it. I made it through a sentence without losing my train of thought.

“Oh that sounds fun.” Nash cut into his pork chop covered in black truffle sauce. “I think it’s cool the Aardens celebrate Winter Solstice like they do.”

“Yeah.” I tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from my updo behind my ear. “I’ve never celebrated it before, so I’m not sure what to expect. But I guess it’s a tradition Mack’s mom started a long time ago and they wanted to keep the tradition alive.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Aarden was cool like that. Always having fun little celebrations for the change of seasons.”

It was also convenient, too. Now that I had two parents to celebrate holidays with, it worked out that Brendon celebrated Winter Solstice and my mom celebrated Christmas. Ava and I could spend time with each parent on their special holiday and not have to miss out on anything.

“What about you?” I asked. “Any fun plans?”

“I think we’re just hanging out around Eden Falls for Christmas this year,” Nash said picking up his sparkling mineral water. “And then we’ll be coming here to New York to stay at our penthouse for a few days while Cambrielle does all her debutante stuff.”

Of course the Hastings had a New York penthouse. They probably had a house or condo in every big city around the world.

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