Page 58 of The Mouse and the Maestro

“On your wedding. Nick said you two are getting married in two weeks,” Blue said.

She blinked at him. “Nick said what?”

“I asked him when the wedding was. He said two weeks.”

Jane pressed her lips together. Nick most assuredly knew what Blue had assumed when he saw her wearing Emily’s wedding dress. She could almost hear his words when sheconfronted him about it.What? I never said you and I were getting married. I simply went along with his assumption.Then he would grin at her in aggravating Nick fashion, assuring she wouldn’t actually be able to maintain her irritation with him. She whipped out her phone and fired off a text to him, pausing to turn on her phone again after he’d turned it off.

You are seriouslyone messed up individual, and I am ridiculously angry with you.

He replied a minute later.I did it for you, to give you a security net and ratchet down the awkward tension. You’re welcome.

He hadn’t doneit for her, she knew. He had done it for his own jealously and orneriness. But she would take it for the gift it was and use it as a buffer between her and Blue. Goodness knew she had no ability to resist him on her own.

“Thank you.”

“Where’s your ring?” Blue asked, touching her left hand.

“In a box on Nick’s nightstand.” That part was true. After she refused his proposal, Nick told her he would leave the box by his bed (meaning her couch) for whenever they decided to get together and “make it official.” That was exactly the moment when Jane downloaded the Taylor Swift song and began playing it on repeat. She would never get desperate enough to take Nick’s sloppy, backhanded proposal. She might not be someone’s first choice, but she was no one’s leftovers. “Are you seeing anyone?”

He returned both hands to the wheel. “I’ve been seeing a lot of people. No one in particular, and no one on repeat.”

“Hmm.” Hearing him answer her question had given her an excuse to look at him. She stared at his profile and realized shehad forgotten none of it. Over the last few months she had been able to conjure his face as easily as if he were standing beside her. In a ridiculously short time it had become much beloved by her, like a favorite painting. They reached a stoplight and he faced her, returning her frank stare, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I missed you, Jane,” he said and someone behind them honked. Blue faced forward again and accelerated through the green light.

“I missed you, too,” Jane admitted, forcing her eyes away from him as she faced forward.

“Really? In the midst of getting engaged and planning a wedding you found time to miss me?” he asked, a hint of bitterness creeping into his tone.

“I…” Jane began, but didn’t know how to continue. Blast Nick and his lie, and blast her weakness for going along with it.

“Never mind, we’re here,” Blue said, holding his credentials aloft to the security guard who oversaw the agency’s parking lot. He parked and she reached for her door, but he held her back. “One more thing I want to tell you before we go in.”

She turned curiously to him.

“I sold your app.”

She blinked at him. “My app?”

“The translator for social awkwardness. They loved it, it’s been selling like hotcakes.”

She gasped, pressing her hands to her mouth in excitement. “You’re joking.”

He shook his head, grinning. “I’m not, it’s been selling better than Threeple. I’m thinking of buying another Jag, one for the weekends. I’ll get you one, too. What’s your favorite color?”

“I don’t want a Jag, but I do want to see the app.”

He pulled out his phone, pressed a button, and handed it over. It featured a quick response for every conceivable socialsetting, as well as conscious relaxation exercises and reminders. “This is fantastic,” she said.

“Do you want to see your Easter egg?” he asked.

She looked up and froze. He was very close to her face, mere inches away. She could smell him now, and the pheromones were a powerful reminder of her attraction to him, as if she needed one. She nodded. He took the phone back, his fingers brushing hers as they made the pass. He pressed a button and turned the phone toward her. With effort, she settled her eyes back on the device in time to see a cartoon drawing of what was obviously the two of them on his screen. Jane sat on a bench, Blue knelt in front of her, and she took his face in her hands and kissed him. The cheesesteak shop was behind them.

“Our first kiss,” she muttered, her heart somersaulting around her chest. He nodded. “I love it, it’s perfect. Congratulations.” Unbidden, her arms slid around him, hugging him.

He hugged her in return, an innocent hug of friendship. Or at least that was how it started out. Eventually he swallowed convulsively and dropped his head, inhaling her hair. “Jane,” he whispered, and his phone buzzed with a text. He froze.

“Work?” she guessed.

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