I shrugged with one shoulder. “You never asked.”
“I’m asking now.”
I opened my mouth, hesitated, then stopped. When I closed it again, Lincoln was staring back at me curiously.
I let out a long, resigned sigh.
“What?”
“I’d tell you,” I said sheepishly. “But I’m afraid it would sound too stupid.”
He stroked his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Sex in the City?”
I laughed so hard I ended up squeezing his hand. I didn’t let go, however.
“No. Great guess, though.”
“Hmmm…” he said. “So what then?”
“Promise you won’t laugh?”
Lincoln grinned wickedly. “Can’t do that.”
“Fine. Just promise you won’t hold it against me.”
He nodded and held up his free hand. “Scouts honor.”
I eyed him shrewdly. “Were you a scout?”
“No,” he admitted. “But I’m told they have honor.”
“Fine then,” I sighed again. “There’s this really cheesy rom-com.”
Lincoln rolled his eyes over-dramatically.
“And it takes place here, in the City. And… I don’t know. It got me thinking about where I was. And where I could be. And Manhattan was so damned beautiful in the movie, so totally unlike—”
“We’re here,” announced Ulrich over his shoulder.
Lincoln glanced out the window and did a double take. “The heart of the diamond district?”
I poked him in the ribs before pulling him out the door.
“Trust me,” I chuckled. “Your mother will thank you.”
Fifteen
HOLLY
The IGT Jewelry Shopping mall was a glass-framed masterpiece centered in the middle of West 47th street. I’d only been there once before, and the sprawling, multi-level showcase of shops and vendors had overwhelmed even me.
“Earrings,” I said, dragging Lincoln along.
“Earrings?”
I nodded. “In every photo you’ve ever shown me, your mother is wearing the same dated pair of earrings. She needs new ones. Diamond ones.”
“But how do I know which—”