Page 170 of Bridesmaid Undercover
I’m looking for any sort of non-friend movement from her, and I’m getting nothing.
“Here are your drinks,” Maple says as she comes up to us with two Moscow mules. “Enjoy. The caterers just put out the desserts, and I want one of those chocolate donuts before they’re all gone.”
With that, she sets our drinks down on the coffee table in front of us and hurries back inside.
“So,” Everly says as she picks up her drink, “what did this shirt that made you think of me say?”
You’re the one I croissant…but not sure I can fucking say that. Given my friend-zone track record today, it seems like that would fly over her head as well. So maybe I should settle for something simpler.
“It was of a crab,” I say. “And the crab was holding a paint brush and was wearing a beret.”
“Okay,” she draws out with a smile.
“And under the crab, who was looking pretty mischievous if you ask me, like he just painted something naughty, it said, ‘Leonardo Da Pinci.’”
Everly snorts and covers her nose at the same time. “Oh my God.” She laughs some more. “That is…that’s an amazing shirt.”
I lift a quizzical brow. “You like ‘Leonardo Da Pinci,’ but you can’t get on board with a fish coming out of a top hat?”
She shakes her head. “It makes no sense, Hardy.” She sets the plate down on the coffee table and scoots in close. “Why would the fish be coming out of the top hat? The saying is if youfish upon a star, which is a play on words fromPinocchio, right? So, if there’s a top hat involved, then you would think that the fish would be wearing a top hat like Jiminy Cricket.”
“I…” I pause, as her reasoning swirls in my head. “You know…” I chuckle and rub my palm over my beard. “I can see why there might have been some confusion about the shirt. It would make more sense for him to be wearing the top hat.”
“Thank you,” she says as she leans back against the couch. Because I have my arm draped behind her, she’s almost leaning into me, which of course makes my pulse kick up.
This is progress.
“But, just to put this out there, did you ever think that maybe the hat is acting as a fishbowl so he doesn’t shrivel up and die? Because how can you wish upon a fish if the fish is like a raisin in a dish?”
She studies me for a moment, those green eyes looking back and forth between mine. “Did you add the dish part to rhyme?”
“I did.” I wince. “Did it work?”
“A little.” She chuckles. “And I don’t accept your hat theory. I think the designer missed the mark.”
“Okay, how about this,” I say, feeling slightly confident as she leans into my arm. “I saw another shirt that made me think of you.”
“Oh yeah?” She crosses one leg over the other, which angles her body closer to me.
I want to put my hand on her thigh.
I want to twirl her hair around my finger.
I want to pull her on my goddamn lap and give Ken and Polly a run for their money.
But I hold back because baby steps.
Ease her out of the friend zone and right into thelet’s make outzone.
“Yeah,” I answer as my hand itches to touch her hair.
“What was on it?”
“First of all, it was red.”
“Okay, how does that have anything to do with what’s on the shirt?”
“Because red looks amazing on you,” I say, looking her right in the eyes.
