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Andre considered this, his brow furrowing. Then his face cleared. “Tomorrow. I don’t want to wait.”
“Yeah?” My smile probably looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care.
“Yeah.” He squeezed my hand again. “It’ll be great to hang out away from an audience too.”
“Agreed. That’s why I suggested coming over, to get us out of view.”
We sat in silence for a moment, goofy grins plastered on our faces. I imagined that people sitting up front were texting about how we were sitting close in the corner.
“So, I’ve been wanting to break in the new kitchen. How does salmon with roasted vegetables sound? Or pasta with a light cream sauce?”
His eyes lit up as if surprised I could cook. “The salmon sounds perfect. I’ll bring dessert. Any requests?”
“I’ll leave that to you.”
We finished our treats, talked about the festival opening, and traded stories about past events. When Andre’s hand found mine again, it was so right. Joy flooded through me.
We said our good nights to Jenny and headed outside to the coolness that had settled in with the sun down. Without discussing it, we headed toward the library. I was parked nearby, and I imagined Andre was in the lot.
“I need to get some things from my office,” Andre said when we got to the quiet building. “I know we shouldn’t, given how fast news travels.” He stepped closer. “But I want to kiss you good night.”
I glanced around the empty street, then back at Andre. “And I want you to.”
This kiss was softer than our first two but no less electric. When we parted, Andre’s smile made my knees weak.
“Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Tomorrow. Seven o’clock?”
“Perfect.” He kissed me once more, quick and sweet, before stepping back. “Have a good night.”
“G’night.”
As I walked toward my car, I heard music coming from the theater, no doubt a rehearsal for an upcoming show. I could stop and check it out and see my moms but decided against it so I could just bask in my time with Andre before having to answer any more questions about it.
FOURTEEN
ANDRE
“The live streaming setup looks good.” Wade tapped their tablet, showing me the final layout for the festival events. “We’ve got all the key locations covered, and the crew is ready to go. We did streams from each location earlier today to verify the wireless was strong.”
I checked off another item from our list. A shocking amount had come together in the last twenty-four hours. “And we’re sure the network capacity will hold even with activity from the attendees?”
“Triple-checked it myself.” Wade grinned. “Plus we’ve got backup hotspots if needed.”
We sat in one of the library’s community rooms, a comfortable space for the last planning meeting. Olivia sat cross-legged in an overstuffed chair, flipping through a final copy of the festival program she’d designed.
“These turned out amazing.” She held up the booklet. “The printer really nailed the colors.”
Mickey, who’d brought coffee for everyone, peered over her shoulder. “They did. The whole thing looks fabulous.” He looked up at me. “What do you think about where we are?”
“For a moment I didn’t think we’d make it, but we did.”
Mickey cocked his head. “And?”
I shrugged, reluctant to voice my concern.
“I know your tells. What are you not saying?”
