Page 53 of Houston, We Have a Problem
Houston: I’m downstairs. Can we talk? It doesn’t have to be for long.
Houston: Please.
Closing the door behind me, I groan and show Jesse the text. Though he gives me a look that is pretty easy to interpret—This is your fault and you know it.—I still silently beg him to help me fix this.
“I don’t think he’s going to leave me alone until he sees Darcy,” I mutter. “And even you can’t turn me into this without half an hour of uninterrupted time.” I wave my hand around my face. “This is impossible!”
Jesse looks around my room for a second and then slips out into the hall, hopefully with an idea. But when he returns with a jar of his favorite face mask, the kind that you lather on thick and end up looking like a swamp monster, I shake my head.
“No,” I say with as much force as I can put into the word while still whispering. “You are not Mrs. Doubtfiring me.”
Ten minutes later, he’s shoving me down the stairs in a bathrobe because there’s no way I’m going to be able to change in and out of my fake chest, so I’ll just have to hide it.
“Houston?” I speak his name quietly, trying to sound miserably sick as I sit on the stairs and peer at him through the banister rails. He jumps up from his seat on the couch and looks ready to rush to me before I hold up a hand and stop him.“I really don’t want to get you sick. I’m worried enough about Tamlin, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
His eyes stray to the top of the stairs. “She’s okay, right? She and Jesse are just talking?”
“What else would they be doing?”
“I don’t know.” He settles back on the couch, stuffing his hands into his hair. He’s untied his bowtie and left his tux jacket loose, and I have to admit this ruffled look is pretty mouthwatering. “It’s been a weird night. How are you feeling?”
I cough into my sleeve. Dramatic effect and all that. “I’ve been better.”
“You look really flushed.”
That’s because Jesse and I just spent the last five minutes scrubbing every inch of makeup off my face. I’m glad it’s dim because I didn’t want to have to put my blue contacts back in after the blissful relief of taking them out, so I still have Tamlin’s eyes.
“I think I’m over the worst of it,” I tell him. “Really. A good night’s sleep and I’ll be back to normal. What did you want to talk about?”
His eyes jump to the top of the stairs again, full of confusion and frustration. I really shouldn’t have come on to him so strong at the gala, but I couldn’t help it. I’m falling for him, and it doesn’t matter if I’m Darcy or Tamlin. Every part of me wants him. I want to know everything about him and see what makes him tick. I want to hear about all his fears and triumphs, doubts and favorites.
I want to know why the universe decided to put me onthisstory withthisman atthistime in my career, when I’m well on my way to getting everything I’ve ever wanted but at the same time can’t risk losing my paycheck. I don’t see a way for us both to win here.
“What are you doing for Halloween?” Houston asks instead of answering my question.
I frown. “I don’t really have plans.”
“Come out with me.” He speaks with command in his voice but is impossibly gentle at the same time. Rising, he crosses half the room but thankfully keeps his distance. “Come to my siblings’ Halloween party.”
Yes. I absolutely want that.“Do you always bring a friend to your family events?”
He shakes his head. “I always bring a date.”
Oh.I guess Iwaswanting him to be more direct about what he saw in me, but I’m both giddy and terrified hearing the worddatecoming out of his mouth in relation to me.
I swallow. “Are you asking me on a date, Houston Briggs?”
“Are you saying yes?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
I snort a little laugh. I hadn’t meant to say that, and the anxiety in his face is adorable. “I mean I’ll go out with you if I’m not still sick. What should I wear? Should I be matching you?”
His eyes drop to my bathrobe for half a second. “As much as I would love to see you matching my costume, you’re probably going to want to find one of your own. I’m stuck paying up on a bet I made last week.”
“Sounds frightening.”
