Thank.God.
I’m so relieved that I’m not even going to take offense at him calling me by that ridiculous — belly-whooshing — name. But…
Did he just say ‘cute little Bubblegum?’
He called me… cute.
“Now you know. So…” I clear my throat, ignoring everything once again. “Whatever it is that you’re trying to do, don’t.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
His eyes flick back and forth between mine. “Or what?”
I frown. “Or I…”
“You,” he prods.
I breathe out sharply. “Or I call security on you.”
Strangely, my threat makes his mouth stretch up into a smile.
And yet again, air gets knocked out of my lungs for a second or two. Becausethissmile of his is really just a smile — small, lopsided and… fond even — and not a smirk.
“Because you’re one of the Davidsons and this is your manor,” he murmurs.
“Yes.”
Humming, he jerks his chin at me. “So what’s this party for?”
Right.
There’s a party.
It’s happening in the backyard right now, just beyond the woods.
I can hear the laughter, the talking, the music wafting through the trees. Another one of the reasons why I couldn’t sleep tonight and decided to take a walk. Because of the noise and because my parents are both working and so sneaking out was easy. Not that I’m the sneaking out type but still.
The party is in honor of the Davidsons’ oldest son, Homer Davidson. I think he just graduated from business school and is now set to travel abroad in order to handle Davidson Hotel’s European division.
“Why?” I ask suspiciously.
“The same occasion you mentioned before, I assume.”
“I…”
“Wait,specialoccasion. That requires you to be so,” he looks me up and down again, “pink.”
“I’m not…” I shake my head. “It’s none of your business, what occasion it is. All you need to know is that you can’t ruin it.”
“How about you tell me what the special occasion is and I promise not to ruin it for you.”
“How about you promise not to ruin it and I won’t call security on you.”
Again my threat has a minimal effect on him. “Well then, I’m afraid we can’t come to an agreement.”
With that, he reaches his arm back to his pocket, quite possibly fishing for something, and I blurt out, “It’s my birthday.”