Page 117 of Something Cheeky

“Go home, Greg,” Derek shouted.

The crowd roared as if Derek had made a three-point basket to beat the buzzer. Soon chants of “Go home, Greg!” chased the man away from the platform. He tried to disappear into the crowd, but the news crews ran after him.

“We did it,” Th?o said as she hugged Katie Mai. “It worked!”

Zoe grinned. When she’d suggested the walkout, it was a shot in the dark. But seeing Greg run away with his tail between his legs had been icing on the cake.

“Hey, you,” she whispered to Derek as their friends high-fived and hugged one another, “Kiss me again.”

Chapter 50

Zoe stifled a yawn as she threaded her needle. The adrenaline rush from the morning’s protest had had worn off hours ago.

She smiled to herself as she pinned a custom appliqué onto T?m’s final costume, which was softer and more feminine than her previous ones. The creamy orange chiffon hinted at the persimmon tree where the Emperor completed his third and last quest to prove his love to her.

Derek had also completed a quest by standing up for himself, her, andThe Brocaded Slipper. After the crowd outside had broken up, he and Th?o went straight to work to undo Greg’s damage to the show. He’d tried to send the cast home, but they insisted on staying to rehearse their choreography.

He’d promised to come downstairs when he had a break. They had so much to discuss without an audience following their every word.

“You should take a nap,” TJ suggested from his worktable next to her. “Shawn set up cots in the extra fitting room.”

With all the late work hours due to their shortened timeline, the costume shop manager had instituted a no-questions asked nap policy. Sleep deprivation made operating the industrial sewing machines and extra-hot steam irons dangerous, so Shawn encouraged power naps.

Zoe filed the idea way for Something Cheeky. Her sewists didn’tpull late nights often, but it might be a possibility once she launched her Asian-inspired formal-wear collection. She hadn’t told anyone about her decision, but she was ready.

“I’m almost done attaching the last persimmon appliqué—ouch!” Zoe had stabbed her thumb with the needle.

She immediately dropped everything on the table and stepped back. Blood was the most difficult stain to remove from fabric, especially from a delicate fabric that couldn’t handle a lot of scrubbing, like chiffon.

“Zoe, are you okay?” Derek called out from the costume shop door.

His forehead wrinkled with concern as he handed Shawn the large paper bags in his hands before rushing over to Zoe.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” Zoe laughed as she held out her thumb, where a tiny red bead of blood appeared. “It shocked me more than hurt. I only jumped back because I didn’t want to mess up the costume.”

“Chill, Derek. She’s not going to sleep for a hundred years,” TJ teased as he handed Zoe an antibacterial wipe and a bandage.

“Wrong fairy tale.” Zoe rolled her eyes at TJ but smiled anyway.

“Let me,” Derek offered and took the first-aid supplies from her. He cleaned her thumb and gently bandaged it as if she were made of glass.

“That was proof you needed a nap.” TJ tsked disapprovingly. “Or to go home.”

“What I need is caffeine. And to rethread my needle.”

“I thought you might, since it’s the midafternoon lull.” Derek jumped in before Zoe could remind TJ that opening night was in less than a week. “I brought coffee, sodas, energy drinks,andsnacks for the costume shop as a thank-you for your hard work.”

“He’s a keeper,” TJ whispered loudly to Zoe. “Oooh, are those shrimp chips?”

TJ pointed to a familiar pink and red bag sticking out of the brown grocery bags.

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” she said to Derek. “Everyone could use a pick-me-up.”

“I need some sunlight while we still got some. And fresh air,” TJ announced. “Anyone want to join me?”

Zoe chuckled at TJ’s not-so-subtle way of clearing the costume shop to give her and Derek privacy.

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