Chapter 8

February 14th

Valentine's Day can suck it. That's all.

Paige didn't get out of bed until that afternoon. Maybe if she hid in bed all day she wouldn't have to face the fact that a cop had arrested her for unsuccessfully trying to get rid of her virginity. Or face the fact that she did nothing but dream all night of said cop taking her virginity.

"Come on, Felony Paige! Open the door!"

Paige groaned, but shoved down the covers as Leah pounded on the door. "I'm coming!" She wished.

Paige got out of bed and padded in her fluffy sock-clad feet to the door and unlocked it. She didn't bother opening it. As soon as Leah heard the click of the lock she was through the door and rushing into the apartment.

"What are you wearing? We have to leave in ten minutes!"

"Leave for what?" Paige asked laying back down in bed.

"Eli's show. Remember? He got us all tickets? Amelia is meeting us there."

"Oh, crap!" Paige jumped from bed. "I totally forgot."

Leah was already going through the small rack of clothes that served as a closet to find an outfit. She picked a red dress and flung it at Paige before kneeling down to find a pair of shoes. "Put these on."

"Leah, this is my slut dress."

"Yeah, and you still have your virginity to lose. Maybe a nice, Broadway-loving man will be just the person to take it."

"You know, I don't think I've read any books about Broadway romance." Paige didn't bother arguing about the dress. She didn't have time at this point. If she didn't end up in jail again, she'd take the night as a win.

"You're right," Leah said, hiking a heel to her as if it were a football.

Paige caught it and prepared to catch the second shoe. "We should find one. I bet Eli would love it."

"We'll look at intermission. Now, hurry!"

Amelia was pacing in the lobby of the theater. She was wild-eyed and looked ready to bolt. "There you are!"

"We still have three minutes, it's fine," Leah said to their friend as she handed out tickets.

"No, it's not that. Eli invited Felix! He's here!"

Amelia looked close to fainting.

"That's good, right? Now you can talk to him. One of us should actually succeed at our resolution," Paige told her as they walked down the aisle toward their seats. That's when Paige saw Felix sitting by himself. She looked down at her ticket and then over at Leah as Amelia continued to panic.

Leah gave a little nod and Paige fell back so Amelia was now in the lead. "Right here," Leah said, practically shoving Amelia into the row where Felix was sitting four chairs down.

Amelia froze when she saw him, but Paige gave her a little shove. "Go," she whispered. "You owe me. I didn't rat you out to the police."

Amelia stumbled forward as Felix smiled at them. "Happy Valentine's Day, ladies. I believe I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you all as my dates tonight."

Amelia made a choking noise and Paige thumped her on the back. Luckily, Amelia was saved from saying anything when the lights dimmed.

The show was fantastic. Paige almost forgot about her embarrassment as they watched the singing and dancing. Paige jumped to her feet and clapped when the show ended. Leah whistled loudly and Felix called out "Bravo!"

"Where do we go now?" Amelia asked.

"Come back to the café. It's open until midnight tonight. I put aside some special desserts for us to celebrate Eli's performance," Felix suggested.

"Is it chocolate?" Paige asked.

Felix put his hand to his heart as if she'd wounded him. "Of course, it is. I know what my favorite customers like." Felix turned to Amelia. "I even have extra whipped cream, just for you."

Amelia turned as red as the Valentine's Day hearts decorating the theater.

"That sounds great. Thanks, Felix." Paige rescued Amelia from having to say anything.

"Good. I'll see you all there."

The three of them watched Felix stride away before turning and staring at Amelia. "Girl, ask that suave man out!"

Amelia blushed at Leah's statement. "He's just being nice because Eli gave him a ticket for the show."

Leah threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Just try talking to him tonight," Paige told her friend as they waited for Eli to emerge. "Ask him what he thought about the show."

Amelia took a deep breath. "I can do that."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Book Babes!"

"Eli!" the three of them screamed back as they rushed to hug their friend as he emerged from backstage along with a slew of other dancers and musicians.

"You were amazing!" Paige said as they hugged him.

Leah and Amelia both heaped on the praise as they gushed over the show and Eli's performance.

"Felix invited us over to celebrate," Paige told him right when a handsome man carrying a violin case walked by. He rolled his eyes and Paige saw the rejection on Eli's face. "He's such a nice friend and he was totally hitting on Amelia tonight." Paige made sure to raise her voice for who she was guessing was Eli's crush.

"Excuse me, Mr. Violin!"

"What are you doing?' Eli hissed at Amelia.

Amelia never raised her voice and she never called out to men she didn't know. She'd known Felix for years and just now said one full sentence to him.

Eli's crush turned around, looking surprised. Amelia nodded and smiled at him. "Yes, you. Hi, I'm Amelia. I'm one of Eli's friends, obviously. I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed your playing. The music was magical."

"Oh," the man was clearly taken aback. "Um, thank you so much. By the sound of the applause, I think congratulations are in order for you too, Eli."

"Thank you." Eli sounded as if he'd switched places with Amelia. He didn't say anything else, so Paige jumped in.

"I'm Paige." Paige shoved her hand out, forcing the man to shake it and introduce himself.

"Kenneth," he said, shaking it.

"It's so nice to meet a friend of Eli's. Would you like to join us at Café Felix? Oh gosh!" Paige paused dramatically. "I just assumed you were like us and dateless on Valentine's Day."

Kenneth looked at Eli and then grinned. "I'm sure Eli's date will keep you entertained."

"What date?" Leah asked sarcastically as Paige snickered. "Eli's like us, a single bookworm."

Kenneth looked confused and Eli looked ready to pass out. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like," Paige said before rattling off the directions. "It really was a great show."

Amelia elbowed Eli who cleared his throat. "You played beautifully, Kenneth. Happy Valentine's Day."

"You too, Eli." Kenneth said it with a little less confidence than before. It was clear he was trying to reconcile the Eli he saw here tonight with his friends with the playboy he assumed Eli to be.

Then they linked arms and Eli practically pulled the three of them away. He didn't say a word until they were in the cab. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Now you know how it feels," Amelia said smugly. "Kind of sucks being put on the spot like that, doesn't it?"

"Not that," Eli said, staring at her. "You talked to a man in multiple, full sentences."

"Well, yeah. He's not interested in me. You do realize that my job at the bank requires me to talk. It's when there's someone I like that I clam up."

"How did we not know this?" Leah asked, shaking her head. "I feel like such a bad friend. I thought you hid in a small office at the bank, just counting money or something."

Amelia shrugged. "It's not like you see me at work. Being a branch manager does mean I have an office, but also means I have to talk to a lot of people every day."

"Mind. Blown." Eli used his fingers to explode his head.

"You wish it was something else blown?" Leah snickered as she steered the conversation back to Eli and Kenneth.

Paige opened the door for the cab and was sliding out when she ran smack into a wall, which resulted in Eli running headfirst into her butt and sending her flying forward. Two hands grabbed her and steadied her even as Eli fell back into the cab, landing across Leah and Amelia's laps from where they'd all crammed in the back of the cab.

"There's my favorite jailbird."

Paige's eyes shot up to the laughing, molten brown eyes of none other than Detective Max Caldwell.

"Maxy, no arresting people on our date. You promised."

Paige looked behind Max to find a sexy blonde standing there looking bored. She even gave a little sneer as if Paige smelled bad. Paige's heart plummeted. Behind her she heard Leah whisper a curse word as Eli managed to wriggle himself out of the cab.

"Oh, hi Detective. Um, I'll just let you get back to your date." Paige pulled out of his grasp and scrambled onto the sidewalk where Eli was now waiting. Amelia squeaked as she rushed by Max, and Leah gave his date the middle finger behind Max's back. The date didn't see it, but Max caught it in the reflection of the cab's window and Paige thought she might die on the spot, even though she was also secretly cheering Leah.

The date climbed into the cab as Max turned and looked at Leah. "Have an electrifying evening."

Leah stumbled into a stutter-step, recovered, and strode into the café with her head held high. Amelia gave another little squeak and followed behind, leaving Eli and Paige to watch Max climb into the cab.

"Too bad he has a girlfriend or you could have crossed off the law enforcement trope," Eli said, slipping his arm through hers. "Come on girl. Let's go commiserate our singleness together. Plus, I'm so getting Amelia back."

Eli yanked open the door and smiled. "Hello, Felix! Amelia's been talking nonstop about your kind invitation. Thanks for having us."