Page 45 of Take the Wheel

Nancy shot her the smallest glance, just a flick of her lashes, and Ari answered with the tiniest quirk of her lips. Done.

‘Well, I won’t keep you,’ Nancy said to their victim, her tone gracious. ‘Just wanted to pass along our compliments.’

‘Much appreciated,’ the waiter said, giving her a polite nod before returning to his duties.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Ari tilted her head toward Nancy. ‘Smooth,’ she murmured. ‘You really kept his attention.’

‘I’m achauffeur.’ Nancy arched an eyebrow. ‘Half the job is talking to people.’

Ari grinned, twirling the keys once between her fingers before tucking them safely away. ‘I thought you were more the strong, silent type.’

‘Depends on who’s in the back. You’re not one for banal bullshitting, so I don’t give it to you.’

Ari smiled. ‘That was a compliment. I think?’

Nancy nodded. ‘It was. Take it.’ Another one of those moments happened. Nancy cleared her throat. ‘What now?’

Ari leaned in slightly, letting her voice drop just for effect. ‘I take what’s mine, of course.’

Nancy didn’t know if they were talking about the keys or something else entirely. But she didn’t ask. Neither of them would. Not yet. She gave a soft laugh, feeling the heat in her cheeks. ‘Let’s just hope it was worth the trouble.’

Ari tapped the keys against her palm and said, ‘Shall we?’

Nancy raised an eyebrow. ‘But… We said during dinner.’

Ari looked around her, assessing. ‘It’s the right moment,’ Ari appealed. ‘You can be the lookout this time. Guard the door. This can be over in five minutes.’ She sighed, her large, dark eyes pleading. ‘I want this to be over with so we can… SoIcan move on.’

Nancy knew what the plan was. But she also knew Ari wasn’t much for following it. And it was so very hard to say no to her. Growing harder by the second.

Thirty-Six

Ari’s fingers still tingled with the buzz of their little victory, the keys now secure in her hand, but there was no time to savour the moment. Time to go and get her prize.

But as she began to push back out to the hall and up to Paris’s room, there was a shift. She could feel the swell of people pushing against her. Because they’d heard something she hadn’t.

She caught it the second time. The butler announcing the wedding was about to begin. Shit.

Everyone had been waiting for this cue. There was no escaping the tide now. Ari and Nancy were swept into the crowd, bodies moving, shifting, merging. And despite every instinct telling her to slip away, to make her escape while the moment was still hers, Ari was carried forward, caught in the flow like everyone else.

She glanced at Nancy, and their eyes met for just a second. ‘It’s OK. We just stick to the original plan,’ she whispered. ‘Course five.’

Ari was livid. But also trapped. The pace of everything seemed to conspire against her. They could go now, but they’d have to be fast to get there and back before the wedding march started up. It wasn’t worth it. Nancy was right. Stick to the plan.

Ari let herself be swept with the tide alongside Nancy. Their bodies bumped in all the worst (or best?) places, and they both looked away quickly. The chatter grew louder as the crowd murmured with excitement, eager for the wedding to begin.

The garden stretched out before them, the soft glow of fairy lights twinkling in the trees. But Ari’s mind was elsewhere. It waseverywhere. The keys, the necklace, Nancy. Her mind was a washing machine on full spin.

‘I’m not good at waiting,’ Ari muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for Nancy to hear.

Nancy’s lips twitched, but she didn’t respond right away. They both kept moving, barely keeping their footing as they were swept further into the garden and directed to their seats. ‘Just hold on,’ she said.

The seats were at the back, positioned in such a way that it felt like an afterthought. Yet still, they were stuck, trapped in the row with the other unimportant guests.

The murmur of conversation dipped into a hush as the quartet began to play, but Ari was still fidgeting, twisting the stolen keys between her fingers.

Nancy, ever composed, glanced at her. ‘Would you stop that?’

Ari exhaled sharply but slipped the keys into her palm. ‘Sorry. I was just so close. I’ve waited years for this.’

---