“Anyway, I prefer winter…” and before I can shut my stupid mouth, I blab the next thought that pops into my head, “Your aftershave smells like a snowy forest, you know?”

No time to add anything to justify my silly, and totally inappropriate comment before his jaw tightens and his eyes harden.

“We should probably go,” Richard says, looking away. “The meter is running.”

“Sure.”

I follow him around the dome and back to the car with a large, inexplicable lump in my throat.

***

The wistfulness of the observatory visit dissipates as I take advantage of every minute I have to get ready. I scrub and pamper myself until I’m the best beauty products can make me. Tablet connected to the hotel Wi-Fi, I experiment with two of Tracy’s tutorials to style my hair in a loose hairdo, and contour my cheekbones so they’d make Katharine Hepburn burn with shame.

At the designated hour, I make my way down to the lobby and, for once, Richard’s eyes don’t wander straight to my shoes but linger on my plunging neckline. I take a deep breath and try not to blush.

“Wow.” Richard’s eyes widen. “You’re stunning.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” I say.

“No, it’s just… I didn’t expect your dress to be so…” Flattering? Revealing? Sexy? I’m right there with you, Richard, I would’ve never expected to wear a dress like this, not in a million years. “…colorful.”

“Colorful?” That’s not the adjective I was expecting.

“Yeah, somehow I had myself convinced you’d come out in a black dress.”

Which I totally would have if it weren’t for the stupid list and stupid friends. “Why black?”

“It’s safe.”

“Are you calling me boring?” I say, more flirtatious than reproachful.

My coquettishness earns me a smile, a real one, not Richard’s usual guarded smirk. And as the boss lets himself go, his entire face changes. Crinkly lines appear at the corners of his eyes, and for once, warmth radiates from his gaze instead of mistrust. His sexy dimples make an appearance too. If I thought he was handsome before, I knew nothing. When Richard smiles, really smiles, he is sensational. It sucks the air out of my lungs and sends my heart into a pounding frenzy.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he says.

“You clean up well yourself,” I manage to say.

“Shall we go?”

He offers me his arm and I take it. Outside, we hop in a cab and spend the obligatory half-hour journey mostly in silence. I am too self-conscious of my spiraling crush to make small talk. Like an inexperienced teenager, I jolt in my seat every time our legs bump due to a sharp turn.