Page 32 of The Main Event

“It was good,” she agreed, making an “oomph” noise when her shoe caught on one of the cobblestone bricks.

My heart skipped a beat when it looked as if she might crash into the light post, and I reacted on instinct and threw myself in front of her so she would land on me and not the cold concrete.

I swear I felt as if my whole body was suddenly on fire when she flopped against me.

Her head automatically tilted up, and I instinctively looked down, and in that moment our mouths were mere inches away from one another.

I should’ve pulled away, but I didn’t.

She looked as confused as I felt as the electricity sparked around us. We were the only two people in the world at this moment. There was nobody else. I didn’t want there to be anybody else.

If I just leaned forward…

The sound of somebody clearing their throat had me jerking my eyes away from Daisy’s face. There I found Lux standing in front of the restaurant, her smirk a sign of her thoughts.

“Oh, um, she tripped.” I placed Daisy on her feet as carefully as possible and tugged on my shirt to smooth it. “Did I forget to sign the credit card tab or something?” I asked.

Lux glanced at Daisy, then back at me. “Here. I just wanted to give you Jesse’s number.” She handed over a business card. “I wrote his cell number on the back.”

I took the card. “Thanks,” I said dumbly.

“No problem.” Lux’s smile was serene. “You should call him and get together.” Her gaze moved to Daisy. “And you and I should definitely have an outing so we can talk.”

Daisy made a face. “Oh, don’t make it weird.”

I didn’t have to ask what was weird about this interaction. It was obvious.

“We’ll talk,” Lux said. She winked at me. “You guys have a nice night now.”

Oh, if only. The moment had passed and there was no getting it back. Had she felt it too? If so, what were we supposed to do about it?

9

NINE

“Okay, so we’re going with a Barbie theme?” I asked Caroline Hoult as she looked over the paperwork I’d handed her.

“I guess so.” Caroline cast her teenage daughter Betsy a dubious look. “Are you sure this is the route you want to go? Once we sign the papers, this is what you’re getting whether you change your mind and decide you want a Taylor Swift party instead.”

Betsy was like most fifteen-almost-sixteen-year-olds. She thought she knew best no matter the situation. “It’s not like when you were a kid, Mom,” she said in her most annoyed voice. “Barbie is cool.”

“I don’t understand how Barbie is suddenly cool,” Caroline said to me. “She wanted a Barbie party when she was five. The year later she said she wasn’t a baby and acted as if Barbie was the worst thing ever invented. Now we’re here.”

“I’m sure it’s the movie,” I said to her.

“Oh, I forgot about the movie.” Caroline slid her eyes to her daughter. “Is that why you want to have a Barbie party?”

“I’m about to become a woman,” Betsy replied. “Barbie is a feminist icon. Plus, I like pink. I want a Barbie Sweet Sixteen.”

“Okay then.” Caroline turned back to me. “Barbie it is.”

I refused to let myself get drawn into what was obviously going to turn into an ugly mother-daughter fight at some point. Caroline had turned positively twitchy when Betsy had unloaded the word “feminist.”

“Since when is Barbie a feminist?” Caroline asked me out of the blue.

I was suddenly sweaty. “Oh, well…”

She didn’t wait for me to respond. “Barbie is all about pretty accessories and her dream house.”

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