He smiles. “I believe you.” It’s as close to approval from him as I’ll ever get.
“Don’t stay out too late or get into trouble while you’re in the big city,” Ruby drawls.
“I’ll try not to,” I respond to their heckling, but I only have eyes for Cristobal. The black slacks, white button-up, and gray vest fit him to a T.
I hold out the rose. “For you.”
His lips twitch. “Like I gave you on our first date.”
I nod.
“Thank you.” He leans and brushes my lips with his. “I’ll put it in water.”
“We’ll do that. You two go have fun.” Luz takes the bloom and we’re ushered toward the door after a few photos have been snapped.
I’m almost dazed on the doorstep. “What in the world?”
“I may not have been the best company of late.” He clears his throat.
I reach down and squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“We both have much to learn when it comes to how far we can push boundaries,” he admits. “I love the fire inside of you. I don’t want to extinguish it.”
I lead him to the car and open the door. He bristles but allows it. I grin. “Thank you for being such a good sport.”
“For today only,” he warns.
It’s more than I hoped for. I scramble around to the driver’s side, and we pull onto the road.
“Fill me in on what I’ve missed.”
“More preparations for the coronation, meetings, and Gils’ phone calls every other day from France.”
“Be honest, you sent him there with the black card to get him out of your hair.”
He chuckles. “Perhaps.”
“That’s a yes from you.”
We spend the road trip filling each other in on our week. He laughs when I lead him to Café Du Monde.
“I didn’t realize you were such a sentimentalist, Ms. Esçhete. Recreating our first date.”
“I wanted to go back to the start. The craziness of the upcoming events and the Djinn really threw us for a loop. It became all about getting things done, surviving, and we lost sight of the best part … us.”
“Do you mean that?” he whispers quietly. Seeing him uncertain is a shock.
“Of course I do.”
“There are times I worry I have pushed all of this on you, reina. Seeing you happy and initiating things has been good for my soul.” He pulls me closer to his side, and I enjoy his slight warmth as we weave our way through the crowd to the building with the green and white striped awning, and a line out toward the street.
“I insist you let me pay.”
I smirk. “Okay.”
We make our way to a table outside, and I do a bit of quick magic.
“What was that?”