Page 30 of Burning Hearts
Ellis paused for a moment as if he weren’t sure if he could say what he wanted to say.
“Lantern Room at nine-fifteen?” he asked. “For Beck’s lighting test.”
I’d completely forgotten that Beck was running a test for some interior shots of the hotel.
I’d never been in the Lantern Room before—it was hidden somewhere within The Langford Hotel and intended as a bar and backroom for Riverfield’s elite.
I nodded. “I’ll walk the lane and meet you after. If press pokes, we’ll just say we’re… aligning distribution.”
He smiled and said, “True.”
“True,” I echoed.
Miss Pearl reappeared with the check in a leather folder that looked older than the town courthouse. She tapped it twice.
“You redeemed together,” she said, satisfied. “Count the tokens. Tip in cash.”
“We’ll fight you for the bill,” Ellis said.
“You won’t win,” she replied, already pivoting to tell a man his to-go cup came with a lid.
We each slid a twenty under the clip and stared at the folder.
“Separate doors?” he asked.
“Separate doors,” I answered.
Optics.
But that didn’t account for the way my pulse had started to race every time we came close to touching.
We stood at the same time, did the polite dance, and still brushed shoulders because the aisle only had so much room.
A kid in a TEAM BREW shirt barreled in with fries. I caught the tray, cleared him through, and handed it back intact.
Habit.
When I looked up, Ellis was watching me as if he’d been waiting to confirm something.
Outside, Riverfield had cooled to porch weather. Streetlights breathed on the bronze peach. Post-roast, pre-bed.
We tried to stand casually on the sidewalk as if there was no tension.
Ellis reached for his phone when I did, then didn’t. I didn’t either. I was good at moving, less so at standing still when I wanted to make a move.
“Seven-thirty,” he said, professional and clean. “Curb.”
“I’ll be there.”
A woman in a #TeamSignal T-shirt breezed by with a to-go bag.
“Y’all play nice,” she said in a cheerful voice. She looked at Ellis and added, “Make us famous.”
Then she looked back at me and said, “Make us safe.”
“We’re trying,” I said.
“We will,” he added.
