Page 45 of Party Favors

“For what?” I asked, bewildered, my heart throbbing from him standing so close to me.

“Last night you offered to be my personal New York City tour guide. I was wondering if I could take you up on your kind offer this afternoon.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Despite the fact that I had a pile of work at home, I immediately said yes and began to walk out into the hallway.

“Wait, don’t you need to get your stuff?” he asked.

“Hold me a minute,” I said, and my eyes widened as I realized what I’d just said. “I was going to say ‘hold on’ and then ‘give me a minute,’ and instead it came out ... the way it did.”

Not at all mortifying.

I could feel the color rising in my cheeks.

He gave me a playful smile. “We all misspeak sometimes.”

“I’ll be right back.” I paid careful attention this time when I spoke so that the right words came out and not some weird combination that made it seem like I was hitting on him.

Max waited by the door while I got my coat. I slipped the rose he’d given me into my purse. I wished I had a second to collect myself, or to do a Wonder Woman spin before I went out the door with him.

For a second I hesitated, wanting to cry off and tell him that I had a lot of work to catch up on and wasn’t free, but my body wouldn’t let me. My feet were already bringing the rest of me over to join him at the door.

“Let’s go,” I said. “What are you in the mood for? Something very touristy, or something more real New York?”

“I pick touristy,” he said.

“Okay.” I took out my phone and looked down my vendor list. “I know a guy who can get us orchestra seats to any Broadway show the day of the performance for like, a quarter of the price.” I sent a quick text and got an immediate response. “Done. We have to hurry, though—the matinee show is going to start soon. Then afterward we’ll go to Times Square, and if you’d like, I know a great restaurant with this chef that does the most amazing catering. I was thinking of getting him for that Monterra party I’m doing. Maybe you could tell me what you think of the food.”

“That sounds like a plan. Where can I send you money for my ticket?” he asked as we got to the elevator. The doors opened immediately and he held them open, letting me step inside first.

Another gentleman point for him.

“I’m the tour guide, it’s on me,” I said as I sent the money to cover both tickets over to Peter via an app. Again, Max was making it very clear that this was not a date by offering to pay for his half. Which was entirely my fault for the friends-only thing, but it was still deflating.

Then I quickly texted Vella to tell her that I wasn’t going to be home this afternoon to start watchingColumbo, the next show in our rotation. I’d made it a habit to text her when I had a date. My mother and grandmother were utterly convinced that I was going to get mugged or assaulted every time I went outside because they thought New York City was so dangerous, and some of their paranoia had managed to rub off on me.

Instinctually I knew that Max was safe, but I still sent the text.

Sending that note to her was probably more because I couldn’t believe that I was about to spend the afternoon with him.

Vella didn’t respond, which surprised me. Her phone was usually glued to her hand. I had expected another string of inappropriate emojis.

The elevator reached the ground floor and we stepped out into the lobby. The doorman, John, waved to me. “See you soon, Everly!”

“Have a good day!” I called back to him.

“Do you know everyone in New York?” Max asked as we went outside.

“It’s part of being a good event planner. You’d be shocked at the kind of people I have at my fingertips. I know someone who can set up a petting zoo at the last minute. Another who has a portable tattoo parlor. A hot-air balloon girl. A balloon-animal maker. Tent, table, linens people. Floral arrangers. Caricature artists. Arcade vendors. Hairstylists and makeup experts. Caterers of every kind of food imaginable. I never know what a client will ask for, and most of my job is connecting clients with the right vendors for their events, and then making sure those vendors do their jobs. It helps to have good relationships with them.”

“That’s impressive,” he said, and I preened over his admiring tone.

“It’s a good thing I’ve built up this kind of network. That birthday party is going to be a very last-minute thing, but I’ll be able to pull it off because they’re spending a lot of money and I know the perfect people to call. That’s what you’re hiring when you get a good event planner.”

“Have you always wanted to be an event planner?”

“I mostly wanted to be a princess when I was younger,” I told him. “I joined student government in high school and discovered that I really enjoyed planning our activities. Then when I found out it was an actual job, I moved here to New York and did college online while working full-time to get practical experience. I figured the best events in the world would be here, and I was right.”

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