Page 112 of The Main Event

“I am. I should be back in three hours.”

“Well, I’ll be waiting.” There was something about her demeanor I didn’t like. Well, something other than her normaldemeanor. She was definitely up to something. I wanted to demand she tell me what it was, but I knew better than picking that hill to die on.

“I’ll be back in three hours,” I said. “If a single one of my decorations has been moved, I’ll know, and we’re going to have a problem.” I hadn’t toiled over the ballroom for three days to have her ruin it.

“I don’t care about your decorations.” She looked bored. “If that’s all, I’ll take it from here.”

“I’ll be back,” I reminded her.

“How could I forget? You’d better hurry along. You don’t want to be late.”

Yup. She was definitely up to something. What, though? I couldn’t worry about it now. “I won’t be long.” I headed for the door. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

“I’m an angel. Why would I possibly go looking for trouble?”

That was the question of the evening.

27

TWENTY-SEVEN

Securing the necessary costume hadn’t been easy. It had required a trip to Boston. I was loath to leave Daisy with all the party preparations, but when I checked in to see what she needed, I found a woman with a checklist and zero patience.

When she said she had it, I believed her. Levi recommended I leave her to freak out on her own.

“She likes it,” he said. “She’ll be fine when she comes back for the party. This is like the leading edge of the storm. She’ll be in the eye when she comes back, and all will be good.”

I didn’t consider it long. “I have to run to Boston for my costume. Do you think that’s okay?”

“What are you dressing as?”

I’d expected him to wave me off, so the question caught me off guard. “Um … it’s a surprise.”

He made a face. “You and Daisy are perfect together. She won’t tell me what she’s dressing up as either.”

“Weareperfect for one another,” I agreed. “Does that mean you don’t know what she’s dressing up as?”

“Nobody knows.”

I thought about what Jesse had told me at the gym. “Lux supposedly knows. Unless … do you think Jesse was messing with me so I’ll look like an idiot?”

“That doesn’t sound like Jesse. What did he tell you?”

“Yeah, I didn’t say I was an idiot, just that I didn’t want to look like one. I’m not telling you what he said. It might irritate Daisy.”

“And we can’t have that.” Levi’s smile was impish.

“No, we cannot.” I wasn’t certain about much right now, but I recognized making Daisy happy was the most important thing to me. “I’m going to make my trip now.”

“Have fun.”

“I’ll be back in two hours if anybody needs me. I’ll be up in my room getting ready.”

“Daisy has this,” Levi assured me. “She knows what she’s doing. Have faith.”

“She’s the thing I have the most faith in,” I admitted.

“Good. Keep it that way.”

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