Page 84 of Party Favors

There was a noise off to the right. I turned to see Max walk in through the door and nearly fell into a heap on the ground.

If a picture of Suit Max had been overwhelming ... real-life Tuxedo Max was going to be the actual death of me.

My ovaries threatened to wage a revolution, ready to declare independence from my brain if I continued to ignore how hot he was.

He walked over to me, and the closer he got, the more I felt like I was going to pass out.

Then he did something he’d never done before. He greeted me the way a Monterran would, leaning in to kiss one cheek and then theother. His touch was fleeting but it still scalded me, turning my face pink.

“You look ... Wow,” he said.

“No one has ever wowed me before.”

“You deserve it. Along with a few other adjectives that I can’t say with other people around.” My internal temperature rose at his words, and I was concerned that I might break out in a sweat and ruin all of Vella’s hard work.

“It’s just hair and makeup,” I said with a dismissive wave.

He wouldn’t let me downplay it. “No, it’s you. You’re glowing.”

Was I? I was excited about how the party would go, putting aside the minor hiccups from earlier. I was happy to be here with him, and my Copy-Kat dress was giving me a much-needed boost.

I didn’t respond to his observation, feeling a bit too embarrassed. “Thank you for coming. I didn’t want to impose on you and put you in an awkward position.”

“No position with you could ever be awkward.”

Now my face was fully on fire. Was this a language thing? I wondered if he knew how that sounded.

Or maybe I was reading too much into something that had been innocent, due to my ovarian revolution.

“You’ve done me such a huge favor with Sunny that this is a very small thing that I could do in return,” he added.

Focus on the task at hand,I told myself. “I still appreciate you showing up and helping.”

“I’d do anything for you.”

My pulse was so wildly out of control that my blood was not flowing properly. Max noticed and took me by my hands. “Are you doing okay? You seem a little jittery.”

Now I was out of breath, my limbs trembling.

It was because he was close to me, touching me, saying romantic things to me. Which I, obviously, could not tell him.

“I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee today.” That was true, and safer as far as explanations went.

“How many?”

“I can’t remember. Two? Twenty-six? Which means in dog coffees I’ve only had like, three.”

He laughed and it was as glorious a sound as ever. “Where do you need me?”

By my side,I longed to say. I went over to a table and grabbed my clipboard. I didn’t need it to answer him, but it made me feel better holding it. Like a shield. “You mingle with the guests. Say hello, speak in Italian, take photos with whoever asks for it.”

I wondered if it would bother him to be a walking prop.

“Sounds good,” he said with a nod. “What’s with the clipboard?”

“My checklists. Making lists helps me feel in control of things even when I’m not. And they’re also here in case I have a heart attack and go to the hospital—somebody else from Elevated could fill in for me.”

The irony that I might actually be in danger of having a heart attack from Tuxedo Max was not lost on me.

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