Page 40 of Heartstruck at Dawn
There I was asking Caleb if he could approve a date for me. That was the most insane dynamic ever! And probably my father’s way of punishing him—andme.
Caleb:It’s going to be tight, Miss Murphy.
Me:What do you mean?
Caleb:He’s British. There’s a different protocol for foreigners. It could take a few days.
Me:What? The party’s tomorrow. Ren has a Spanish ID, and you cleared him in a few hours.
Caleb:We’re being more thorough now. I’ll get back to you.
I knew they had access to investigate anyone in minutes. But days? Perhaps Nathan’s ID photograph wasn’t stimulating for Caleb. He looked … hot. Who looks likethatin their ID? He did.
Everyone chit-chatted while I texted at the dining room table. I turned left and saw Nathan looking my way. He jerked his chin at me with a smile and turned his attention back to Joel.
Damn,okay. For a few seconds there, I forgot what I was doing sitting at the dining room table.
Ren.Yes,Ren.
Me:Hey Ren! What are you up to tomorrow night? A couple of friends from Paris are here for the weekend, and we’re going to a costume party tomorrow. Do you want to join us? We could meet at my apartment and leave together.
Ren:Hi, Billie! So glad you reached out to me. Sure thing. Do I need to wear a costume?
Me:Mandatory.
Ren:I’ll be there. Text me your address.
That was easy.
Tobias kept making small talk with Cecile, who sat there looking like the classical French beauty she is. She was still dating Paul and didn’t seem excited about talking to Tobias. However, she was being friendly and reciprocating the conversation.
Sophie seemed starstruck while talking to Lily, but I knew she hoped she could be the one sitting next to Tobias.
I walked back to the living room and took a seat next to Nathan. In the old days, I would’ve sat on the other side of the living room, far from anyone who could make me nervous. But sitting next to Nathan was necessary. I needed to explain the background check situation to him.
“Hi.” I smiled.
“Anything else you need from me?” he asked, reciprocating my gesture. “Passport? Bank statements? A letter of intent?” He laughed.
“Probably.” I chuckled and took a deep breath. “Okay. So, you need to get approved by my guys. They’ll run a quick check on you, and if you’re cleared, you can come to the party.”
“You’re not joking, are you? I thought you were being cheeky.”
“Sadly, no. Any—surprisesthey might bump into?” I asked jokingly.
“I’m squeaky clean. I’m a lawyer. I know how to cover my tracks.”
I laughed with a tinge of nerves. The age difference startled me. He was about to turn twenty-eight on December 12. His neatly maintained stubble beard and rugged facial features sure made him look like a mature grown-up. But he was Joel’s friend and a few months younger than him. No big deal.
I took my passport out and showed it to him because I needed to behave like a normal person. Caleb would’ve thrown a fit if he knew I allowed anunauthorized strangerto see my personal information, but Nathan needed to know my age.It was only fair. I’d let him find out for himself, of course.
“I’ll have to take a picture of this too, Miss—” he said while he scanned through my information, “Murphy.” He shot a picture of it and put his phone away as he stared at my passport photo. “You look so terribly young here.”
Terribly.
“Um, yeah. I was seventeen when I renewed my passport.” His eyes widened for a second when he heard the wordseventeenas if it were a sin.I think the first word that probably came to his lawyer’s mind wasillegal. “But that was a few years ago,” I said, reinforcing the fact that I was most definitelynotseventeen anymore.
“Three exactly.” He said it as if we were talking about days or weeks instead of years. He closed the passport with a frown and gave it back to me. “You don’t look twenty.”
