Page 18 of Something Cheeky

She nodded. Of course she understood his fear. They’d dealt with similar concerns during college and their summer theater gigs.

“But they loved the three songs we performed for them.” He smiled broadly. “They wanted a complete first draft before investing in a full production. That took us several more months, but it’s official. We’ve signed an agreement for Prestige Rep to produce it.”

“Derek, I’m so proud of you!”

Zoe threw her arms around him. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes as her body relaxed against his warm, muscular chest. The anxiety and nervousness from earlier completely disappeared.

As she breathed in his familiar scent, a tingle spread through her body. The kind that she didn’t associate with Derek.

Zoe pulled away as quickly as she’d gone in for the hug. Her cheeks burned. In her excitement over his success, she’d wrinkled the boundaries they’d agreed on freshman year: friends only.

She cleared her throat. What the hell was she doing thinking about him in that way?

Chapter 9

“Thank you. We worked hard to get here,” Derek said. He crumpled up his now-empty wrappers to avoid eye contact with her.

Whatever that moment was, it ended too soon. For years, he’d longed to hold her close. To inhale her lilac perfume mixed with her warm, sweet scent and finally confess his love for her. But she’d pulled away as if she’d been burned.

“So what happens next?” Zoe asked a little too brightly. Her cheeks were pink and she shifted on the bench.

He took a deep breath to clear the roller coaster of emotions he’d gone through in less than a minute.Remember the plan. Musical first, then personal.A light breeze cooled the flush from his face as he met Zoe’s gaze.

“We have about six weeks until previews start. Six weeks until a real live stage musical ofT?m Cam.”

“No way,” she whispered.

“Greg Powers—that’s the artistic director—agreed that we should do our best to form an all-Asian cast and creative team. He fully supports my vision.”

“All-Asian show,” she responded in disbelief.

“I’ve pinched myself every morning since I arrived in DC. We’re set to open in May.”

The waves broke against the pier as if applauding his monumental achievement.

“So will you do it?” Derek asked quietly. He knew it wouldn’t be personal if she turned down his offer. He wanted to be the reason she agreed to work with him.

“Why me when you can have your pick of New York folks to design your costumes? Or even big-name Asian American fashion designers.”

“Because it’sourdream, Zoe.”

“Itwasour dream and only that,” she reminded him.

“Youarea big-name designer,” he added. “You’ve won awards.”

“For lingerie. In the DMV.” Zoe crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair, creating distance between them. “I haven’t done any costume design since college. I don’t want to be the weakest link on your team.”

“Designing lingerie is even harder than costumes. Not only that, but you’ve created clothing that people want to wear. Some people don’t even want to take it off during sex!”

“You read my Yelp reviews?” Her eyes widened in surprise but a tiny smile crept to her lips.

He nodded. “I did my research.”

“My favorite one-star review is the person who complained that my plus-size shop didn’t carry anything smaller than an extra-large.” Zoe rolled her eyes.

“Would you do it if I promise to help you however you need? Though you don’t want me near a sewing machine,” he added, referring to his disastrous attempt to learn to sew during his freshman-year tech rotation.

Derek was lucky that their costume shop foreperson allowed him to even use a seam ripper after he almost set a machine on fire.

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