Page 30 of Maid in Heaven

“Yeah.” She looked stunned. “Iseverelymisjudged you.”

“Most people do. I’m more than just half a fireman outfit and a feather duster, you know.” Will winked.

“I can see that now.” Then, she pressed a fingertip to his knee gently. “Okay, now, big question…”

“Shoot.”

“On the count of three, name your favorite black-and-white movie.”

“Easy.” He shrugged casually.

She counted off on her fingers in the air. “One… two… three.”

“Casablanca,” they both uttered in near-perfect unison.

Ava clasped both hands over her mouth to keep from gasping loudly.

Will’s eyes bulged. The bartender set down their fresh round of drinks, and he chugged half of his beer in one go.

“No… effing… way,” Ava finally whispered.

As Will’s eyes returned to her,everyone else in the barseemed to fade into obscurity. They could feel an almostpalpable magnetic pullforming between them.

Finally, Will muttered, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of abeautifulfriendship.”

Ava laughed.

Will stared at her for a moment, mesmerized. “Youare absolutely stunning. I’m sure you get that a lot.”

She shook her head, feeling her cheeks grow beet-red at the compliment.

Sensing he’d made her uncomfortable, he moved the conversation back to the prior topic. “That’s crazy. We have the same favorite movie. I was just trying to show it to Starla the other day. I think she made it a whopping ten minutes in before she started snoring.”

“Oh man, I love it. I just forced Madison to watch it with me the day I saw you at the gym. That movie fills me with so many emotions. They don’t make films like that anymore. Ones whose beauty transcends time. Never aging. Never going out of style.”

“Those times had to be crazy to live in. No text messages or emails. No cheap fare discounts or travel Groupons. You fell in love hard and fast, and the best you could hope for wereletters back and forth.”

“Women were devoted. Men were sincere.”

“No modern-day dating games—”

“...Just vulnerable, uninhibited passion.”It was like she had finished his thought, both romanticizing monochromatic films as if they shared one mind.

“Those times had to be especially hard for women. The men got to be in charge. The women stayed barefoot and pregnant.”

“No way, what aboutGone With the Wind?”

She clenched her teeth and looked at him almost apologetically. “I actually haven’t seen that one.”

“What? And you call yourself a lover of classic cinema?!For shame, Ava.”

“I know. I almost saw it once on seventy millimeter at an Alamo, but there was some sort of projection issue.”

“Well, nowI know what our next date’ll be.”

“Ooooh, very presumptuous. So there will be another date?”

“Won’t there be?” Will asked, his expression was hopeful.

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