Page 90 of Party Favors

Max was such a good guy that once he knew that I had developed serious, real feelings for him, that would be it. He wouldn’t lead me on. And how could we continue to be just friends when I was head over heels for him? He would back off.

I didn’t ask about his dinner with Arabella, the other women in his phone, how he spent his evenings, or where he thought things might go between us. There was so much that I wanted to say, to know, but not at the expense of not having him in my life.

Which was cowardly—I knew that—but no one had ever accused me of too much bravery.

I tried to encourage myself. WWKD? Would she let this opportunity pass her by? Or would she seize the day? Maybe if I couldn’t speak the words, there was another way to let him know how I felt.

I unlocked the door and we walked out onto the deck. It was entirely enclosed, but we were very high up.

“This is a great view,” he said as he walked over to the edge of the deck, looking out into the night sky. He stood there for a moment before returning to where I had pressed myself against the wall. He laced his fingers through mine.

“A lot of television shows and movies have been filmed here,” I said as my heart rate increased, knowing what I was about to do. “On a clear day you can see six states.”

“You’re taking this tour-guide thing seriously. How are you doing with the height thing?”

“I’m okay because I’m with you.”

I saw the moment his expression shifted. The smile fell slowly off his face, replaced by a far more serious and intent one.

“Oh?”

Gulping, I nodded. “But the view and movie stuff is not all this deck is known for.”

Okay. This was it. Time to lay all my cards on the table.

“It’s apparently good luck to kiss someone here.”

The air solidified in my lungs while I waited for his reply.

A smile played at the edge of his lips and he looked extremely interested. “Really?”

“Uh-huh.” I wondered if he could feel my clammy anticipation, the fear that coursed through me as I worried that this was all going to turn out badly.

“Do you bring a lot of men up here to kiss?” Now he was teasing me.

“I haven’t kissed anyone since I moved to New York,” I confessed. It was an embarrassing revelation that I hadn’t intended to share with him, but given how ramped up I was, it slipped out.

“That’s too long to go without kissing someone.” He shifted his body closer to mine. “You should absolutely kiss somebody.”

“Any suggestions?” My mouth had gone completely dry and it was hard to talk.

“I’m not busy,” he said with a deceptively innocent shrug. “And if we kissed, then we wouldn’t tempt fate to give us bad luck.”

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“I need to ask you something first,” he said. He paused for three long heartbeats and then asked, “How do you feel when you’re with me?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I felt so very many things when I was with him. Was he looking for something specific? I didn’t know.

So I finally settled on, “Safe.”

“That’s good,” he said as he smiled softly, somehow managing to move even closer to me. He reached up to trace the outlines of my face with his fingertips and my heart nearly exploded in my chest from anticipation. “But first ...”

He was still holding my right hand, and he turned me into a spin and then pulled me tight against his chest.

“What are you doing?”

“I wanted to make sure you had courage first from your Wonder Woman spin.”

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