Page 55 of A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty

Her cheeks darken almost to the shade of her lipstick. “Really?”

I grasp at my chest. “Think I almost had a heart attack.”

She grins and moves back, letting me into her apartment. Her eyes flick next to me for a moment. “And what’s that?”

From under my arm I procure the rolled paper and present it to her with a smile. “A gift.”

“For me?”

“No, for Stella, but something tells me she’d probably destroy it.”

She laughs and the sound rings clear through the small space. “You’re right, she loves to chew on paper. What is it?”

“Open it.”

She rolls the elastics off the paper, then glances at me one last time before unfurling the gift. I watch as she takes in the picture, the smile falling away from her face.

“The poster forTo Catch a Thief?” she whispers.

“Yeah,” I say, suddenly regretting my decision. “I remember you said it’s your favorite movie. Thought this would be better than flowers.”

She smiles, but it’s short lived, and something heavy drops in my stomach. Maybe I really fucked up on this. Sitting down on the edge of her bed with the poster in her hands, she looks up at me. “Joel, I?—”

My heart sinks. “If I misheard you and it’s actually your least favorite movie, I’ve got a lighter. We could go downstairs and set that sucker on fire.”

She breathes out a laugh and shakes her head. “No, it’s just . . . before we go—I need to tell you something.”

My eyebrows lift. “Oh?”

“And it’s something that…” She fidgets with her other hand, plucking at her fingernails. “After you hear it, you might not want to see me anymore.”

That’s surprising. “Oh.”

She presses her hand to her forehead. “I should’ve told you right from the start. But I didn’t think you were serious, and to be honest?” She looks up at me with the most heartbreaking smile. “I didn’t want to scare you off.”

I walk over and sit down next to her on the bed. “Well, what is it? Are you a hitman for hire?”

The corner of her mouth twitches. “No.”

“You’re a mermaid like Daryl Hannah inSplash? I have to say, I’m kind of hoping that’s true, because mermaids are hot?—”

“Joel, focus,” she reminds me gently.

“What is it?”

She sits up straight and takes a long deep breath. “You know how I told you I work nights for a call center?”

My brow furrows. “Yeah?”

“It’s . . . well, it’s not exactly customer support.”

“So what is it?” I ask.

She bites down into that cherry red lower lip. “I’m a fantasy phone girl.”

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. “Oh . . . okay.”

Her eyes widen. “Okay?”

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