Giddiness surged through my veins. I shot a triumphant glance at Josh, who tried and failed to hold back a smile, before I flipped through the book and found a second note.
Now that I’d cracked the code, this one was easier to solve. It guided me to the travel section for a thick guidebook to Italy. That, in turn, led me to the art section for a biography about Michelangelo, which funneled me to a romance about a painter falling in love with his neighbor turned muse.
The note in the romance novel didn’t contain a clue. Instead, it contained one sentence.
Jules, will you go out with me?
Was it possible for a human being to literally melt? Because that was the only explanation I could think of for the way my knees weakened and my insides liquefied. I was a ball of nothing except emotion, held together by a roaring heartbeat and a string of butterflies.
“We’re already on a date, idiot.” My cheeks ached from smiling so hard.
Josh’s mischievous expression melted into something warmer. “Figured I should formally ask before we head to the next stop.”
“Where’s that?”
“You’ll see. Thanks, Luna.” He nodded at the grinning bookstore owner, who handed him a shopping bag packed with books.
I’d been so caught up in the scavenger hunt I hadn’t realized she’d been following me, picking up every book with a clue after I moved on to the next section.
“The books are yours. You’re welcome for diversifying your reading,” Josh said.
I was too stunned to come up with a good retort. “How did you organize this?”
“Like I said, Luna is a coworker’s cousin’s friend. I worked it out with her. Plus, I bought a shit ton of books in exchange, so it was a win-win.”
“That’s…” Don’t cry. That would be humiliating, but the fact that Josh had gone to so much trouble for our date…
A lump lodged itself in my throat as we said goodbye to Luna and exited the bookshop.
“Jules Ambrose, speechless. I should’ve done this earlier,” Josh joked. “Would’ve saved me a lot of headaches in the past.”
“Hilarious.” I found my words again. “So, where’s the prize you promised me?”
“You’ll get it later.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you scamming me, Josh Chen?”
A smile played on his mouth. “Maybe.” We stopped in front of Giorgio’s, an intimate Italian restaurant tucked on a side street. Its windows glowed with candlelight, and the soft strains of jazz music floated into my ears when he opened the door. “Guess you’ll have to trust me.”
Three months ago, I wouldn’t have trusted Josh Chen if I was drowning and he was my only lifeline. Now, I didn’t think twice before I followed him and the hostess to a table in the back corner.
“I wouldn’t make you cook,” Josh said, referencing the first scavenger hunt clue. “I don’t want to die from food poisoning.”
“Quick, quit your job at the hospital. You should be a comedian.” I paged through the menu. “Since we’re here, I assume I meet your intellectual standards and am officially the brains in the relationship.”
“Among other things,” Josh said softly.
My menu flips slowed. I raised my head, and my stomach flipped at the intensity in his eyes. “Other things?”
A slow smile spread across his mouth. “No fishing for compliments, Red.”
“I’m not fishing. I hate fishing.” What are you even saying? Still, I rambled on, too nervous to sit still or stay quiet. “Speaking of, why do guys always put fishing pictures in their dating profile? It’s a turnoff, honestly.”
“I don’t, and you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Why not?”
“Because neither of us are dating anyone else, Red,” Josh said, so calm and matter of fact the words etched themselves into my skin as truth.
Our server arrived, saving me from coming up with an eloquent response. It would’ve been a futile effort, anyway. I couldn’t even focus on my food, much less piece the thousands of words in my vocabulary into a coherent sentence.
All I could focus on was the man across the table. The fullness of his lower lip, the shadow of his dimple, the rough caress of his voice and the bronze glow of his skin in the dim light.
I didn’t know how I ever thought Josh was annoying, because I could stay here and listen to him talk forever.
“Remember what you told me in Eldorra? About forgiving, even if I don’t forget?” Josh rubbed his jaw. “Alex and I are going to a game next week.”
Pleasant surprise rushed through me. “That’s great.”
“We’ll see. He’s such an asshole, it could hurt more than it helps.”
I laughed. “True. But he’s always been an asshole, and you guys were friends for years.”
“Also true. It’s weird, because he was so fucking hard to crack, especially when we first met. And that was him trying to be personable. Normally, I would’ve written someone like that off, but…” A frown touched Josh’s brow. “I don’t know. I guess I thought he needed a friend. No matter how rich you are, you still need someone to have your back. Someone who doesn’t do it for the money.”
I softened at his words. “You’re a good person, Josh Chen.”
“Only sometimes.” He let out an embarrassed laugh. “You were right, you know. What you said after the Black Fox about me holding onto my grudge because that’s all I have left to hold onto.”
The Black Fox. That night seemed like a lifetime ago. We’d been so angry, and we’d said so many hurtful things, but if I had to do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing. That night led us to where we were now. And even with the freshness of my mother’s death and the specter of Max hanging over me, I was happy with where I was, because for once in my life, I didn’t feel alone.
“I wouldn’t say that’s the only thing you have left to hold onto,” I said.
The rest of the restaurant fell away as the moment stretched between us, taut and brimming with a million unspoken words. The answering flare of emotion in Josh’s eyes arrowed into my chest and pierced a shield I hadn’t known existed.
The result was utter chaos—heart bared, pulse wild, stomach fluttering with a swarm of escaped butterflies.