It's a Love Thing (17 page)

Over there? Uh, no. This was going to
be difficult enough over the phone; no way I could ask him out in
person.

“
The pizza’s already here
so . . .”

“
Save it for later, or
tomorrow. Cold pizza is always better anyway.”

He made a good argument.

“
I don’t know . .
.”

“
Come on, I made a whole
pan of lasagna.”

Lasagna? That decided it. Turns out my
stomach outranks my brain. Go figure. And lasagna just so happened
to be my favorite food on the planet.

“
Okay, sure.”

“
Great. It’s just coming
out of the oven so come on over.”

Cursing myself the entire way, I
crossed our lawns and knocked on the door.

“
Just come in,” I heard him
call.

He was in the kitchen cutting into a
steaming pan of ooey gooey, uber cheesy lasagna. Hell, even if he
laughed in my face this would be worth it. I decided to wait until
after the meal to make my request, just to avoid any potential
weirdness. Lucas made small talk across the table, but mostly I
just mm-hmmed and nodded because my mouth was too full to offer any
kind of coherent responses. As we washed and dried the dishes I
plucked up my courage. I just sucked it up and spit it
out.

“
So tomorrow night the
museum is hosting this sort of dinner event and my mother and I are
supposed to attend. Anyway, I have two tickets in case there’s
anyone who would like to go with me so I was just wondering . . .
would you?”

He glanced over at me from where he
was rinsing a glass and I wondered if that had made any
sense.

“
Would I what?”

Guess not.

“
Like to go . . . with me .
. . to the dinner?”

“
Like a date?” he asked,
the corners of his lips tweaking like he was trying to fight a
smile.

“
Like dinner, with a bunch
of boring people making boring speeches . . . and my mom,” I might
have mumbled that last part but he didn’t miss it.

His eyebrows tipped higher and
suddenly I wanted to take it all back.

“
Never mind. You don’t have
to, I mean this wasn’t part to our deal and . . .”

“
Forget the stupid deal.
I’d love to go. What time is it?”

“
Dinner starts at six. You
can drive with us if you want. We’ll probably leave around five
thirty.”

“
What if I didn’t want to
drive with your mom?”

“
Oh, that’s fine. We could
just meet there . . .”

“
I didn’t say I didn’t want
to drive with you. If we’re going to do this then we might as well
do it right. I will pick you up at five thirty. What should I
wear?”

“
Well, it’s kind of a
formal thing so if you don’t have anything . . . I know it’s really
last minute.”

There, an easy out just in case he was
regretting his decision right about now. He didn’t take
it.

“
I think I may have
something that will work.”

I didn’t care if he showed up naked;
in fact I might’ve actually preferred that. I just couldn’t believe
he was actually willing to do this for me.

*****

Let’s just say two girls getting ready
for a formal event in a house with only one bathroom does not go
over well. Mom pulled into the driveway a little after four o’clock
and I hadn’t seen much of her since. I still had to do my hair and
she had been in there for like forty five minutes fiddling with her
makeup. Enough already mom, if it isn’t right yet . . .

“
Finally,” I cried as she
opened the door under my pounding fist, vacating the mirror space
at long last. The counter was littered in makeup items, perfume,
and hair products. I had to dig through several drawers before
turning up my curling iron and plugging it in.

While I waited, I checked out my dress
in the reflection. It was the dress I saved for these types of
occasions. It was too nice to wear any other time, but I really did
love it. The only good thing about these stupid dinners was the
excuse to put it on and feel like a fairy princess for the evening,
even if it was a very bored fairy princess. The dress was a dark,
midnight blue, floor length number and sparkled from top to bottom.
The halter top hung perfectly around my neck and the rest of it fit
my body perfectly. It was definitely my favorite piece of clothing
that I owned. Too bad no one but mom ever saw me in it . . . until
tonight. My stomach squeezed slightly at the thought of Lucas
seeing me like this. What would he think? What would he be wearing?
Who cared? Not me. Why would I?

I helped myself to some of my mom’s
makeup before finally moving on to my hair. I hated doing my hair.
There was just so much of it and I never knew what to do with all
of it. Ugh. I started out banana curling it into a dozen loose
sections and then tried to figure out where to go from there.
Everything I tried looked either juvenile or overdone. There was no
middle ground. I was just about to attack it with bobby pins to at
least keep the chaos out of my face when mom reappeared in the
doorway.

“
Why don’t you try this,
honey?” She held up a sliver clip with dark blue stones in it that
matched the dress perfectly. It was dazzling.

“
Would you?” I asked,
feeling slightly hopeless.

“
I’d love to.”

I watched in the mirror as she
gathered the curls framing my face and pulled them back, slipping
the pin into place to secure them. The remainder of my hair fell
over my shoulders in loose curls. Then she spun me around to face
her and picked out a few strands on either side of my face and used
her fingers to curve them around my jaw line. When I turned back to
the mirror again I couldn’t believe it. It was perfect.

I was wrestling my already terrified
feet into the world’s most uncomfortable heels when the doorbell
rang. A moment later mom called up the stairs, “Lucas is
here.”

Feeling slightly ridiculous making the
classic staircase entrance, I picked my way downstairs just trying
not to fall on my face. Lucas was standing in the living room and
when I saw him I think I stopped breathing. Literally, all
respiration ceased entirely. I have no idea how long that lasted; I
was too busy taking all of him in. He was wearing the most amazing
tux I had ever laid eyes on. It was obvious that this wasn’t some
rental tux, but something tailored just for him. It clung to his
well-defined shoulders in all the right places and accentuated his
figure without looking uncomfortable. The white shirt underneath
was impeccable and even his hair was perfect, gelled and combed
into a proper and yet still incredibly sexy style. His grin tipped
higher as I continued to stare. I had to mentally shake myself to
regain my composure.

When I reached the bottom of the
stairs he took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. No joke.
He really kissed my hand. Suave extraordinaire!

“
You look beautiful,” he
said, tucking my hand into the crook of his elbow.

“
You’re not looking so bad
yourself,” I managed.

He smiled again and, holy granola, if
that didn’t just make things worse.

*****

Dinner was as boring as always with
the long winded speeches by dozens of people, but I couldn’t tell
you a single thing they said. Actually, I’m not even sure what the
exhibit we were there to celebrate was about. I was more than a
little distracted by the absurd pile of hunkyness sitting next to
me. For a while he seemed to be genuinely interested in what was
being said, or maybe that was just for my mother’s benefit, but
when he noticed me staring at him he shifted his attention to me.
Pulling a pen out of his pocket with some sort of slight-of-hand he
jotted down a note on his napkin and slid it across the
table.

‘
Bored?’ it
read.

‘
Aren’t you?’ I wrote
back.

‘
Not while I’m sitting next
to the prettiest girl in the room.’

This made me blush and I hoped the
lights were low enough that he wouldn’t notice. After the speeches
and food were finished they moved onto the second part of the
evening. When they announced the ball was beginning in the next
room, I was mortified. I'd completely forgotten about that. This
was usually the point in the evening when mom and I would excuse
ourselves and go home. I hoped Lucas didn’t think I expected him to
dance with me. Before I had a chance to explain though, he was on
his feet.

“
Shall we?” he asked,
offering me his hand with a slight bow.

Oh boy, Casanova watch out. How could
I say no to that?

I took his hand and he led me from the
room, my mother grinning like an idiot at us the entire way. I had
never actually seen the ballroom before. Even the few times Marcus
had accompanied me to these things, he had never bothered to ask me
to stick around for the dancing part. It was extraordinary. Who
knew there was a room like this in a hotel? It looked like
something that belonged in a palace or something. Tables covered in
white linens lined the room, but the center was one large open
floor. At the front of the room was a small stage where the band
was just getting started. A few people were already dancing, but
mostly they were claiming seats for now. Figuring that was the
safest course of action, I headed toward an empty table, but Lucas
stopped me.

“
May I have this
dance?”

Was he serious? Not only was he
willing to stick around but he actually wanted to dance? This was a
definite first for me, but I agreed. The idea of knowing what it
felt like to have his arms around me even just for one song was too
much to pass up. Lucas led me out onto the floor and swooped me
gracefully into his embrace. Not having any idea whatsoever what I
was doing, I simply followed his lead as he spun me around the
dance floor. He could not be for real. I must have been dreaming or
hallucinating or just completely insane. He danced like some kind
of professional. I could be wrong, but I think the guy knew how to
waltz. I wasn’t the only one to notice either. Other couples
stopped to watch us and I even overheard a few comments from the
table crowd as we passed by. I was too thrilled to bother being
embarrassed. I had never had so much fun or felt so much like a
fairytale princess in all of my life.

After the third or fourth dance we
finally took a break for some refreshments. Lucas was immediately
swarmed by nearly every female in the room. Who could blame them
really? One blonde was particularly forward, shoving me out of the
way to lay a hand on his arm as she spoke.

“
You were really something
out there? Care to give it another whirl?”

The way she was batting her eyes I was
surprised she could see him at all. Lucas glanced over her shoulder
at me looking . . . nervous? Terrified? I had to suppress a
laugh.

“
Um . . . no . . .
thanks.”

“
Well, if you change your
mind.” With a flip of her long hair, Rapunzel evaporated back into
the crowd.

“
Sorry about that . . . I
didn’t . . . I mean . . .” Lucas fumbled and I couldn’t hold back
my grin any longer.

“
What are you apologizing
for?”

“
Her. That. I didn’t mean
to . . .”

“
What? She wanted to dance
with the best dancer here, why wouldn’t she? Besides, none of that
was your fault.”

“
So that didn’t bother
you?”

I shrugged wondering if maybe it
should have more than it did. I had never been easily bothered by
things. Did that make me a pushover? I didn’t think so.

“
What if I had said yes?”
he inquired.

“
Share the wealth,” I
shrugged again. “I mean, what girl doesn’t want to dance with
Prince Charming at the ball? As long as you didn’t start making out
with her or something.”

Mother of pearl . . . I did not just
say that out loud. Someone please tell me I did not just say that
out loud. Lucas’ goofy grin told me that I most likely had. Crud
donks.

“
Unbelievable,” he
murmured, a smile still lingering on his oh so yummy looking
lips.

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?”

“
Nothing. Never mind. Care
to join me back on the floor?” he offered his hand again and I
accepted.

We danced the night away, barely
pausing to breathe or get more refreshments before we were back out
there on the floor again. Before I knew it they were announcing the
last song of the night and I was genuinely distressed. I wished the
night would never end. Who would have guessed?

As the last song came to an end and
people began clearing out around us, Lucas leaned toward me and I
forgot how to breathe all over again. If this was going to become a
regular thing then I was going to have to look into getting some
kind of portable respirator just in case of emergency. Not that I
was complaining; it would definitely be worth it.

Only millimeters remained between our
mouths when my eyes slipped shut. I waited for the touch, the taste
of him, but it never came. Instead he sighed and his breath
caressed my parted lips. More than anything I wanted to lean
forward and get the show on the road, but I had received so many
mixed signals from Lucas since I met him I just couldn’t be sure.
If someone was going to bridge that gap it would have to be him. He
didn’t. Instead he straightened and offered me his arm. Such the
proper gentleman. I could strangle him.