“I have to tell you,” she said, folding her hands together. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you on stage, Mr. Dixon.”

“Oh?” Mateo said, scone halfway to his mouth. “And please, call me Mateo.”

“Certainly, Mateo.”

“You recognized me, you mean?”

She beamed, reaching for the shelf under the coffee table, and pulled up a Playbill. “I saw Robin’s Egg twelve times. You were an absolute marvel.”

Archer froze. Oh God. What had he walked Mateo into?

Mateo looked frozen too, and then he set his scone down. “Thank you.”

“Would it be too much to ask if you signed my Playbill, please?” She held it out to him with a fancy pen.

“Sure,” he said with a tight smile, reaching across the table. “How did this get here?”

“My assistant brought it for me when I saw you that first night.”

“Ah.”

Don’t ask, don’t ask, do not ask what happened, Archer chanted in his head at Eileen as Mateo scrawled his signature next to his face on the front and handed it back to her.

Eileen clutched it to her chest, eyes bright. “Thank you so much, Mateo. I will treasure this.”

Mateo shifted. “You’re welcome.” He picked up his plate again. “This scone looks delicious.”

“I certainly hope so! The oven here is so fussy…”

Archer let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He hoped they could make it through the rest of the tea without Eileen bringing up Robin’s Egg again, and they did. She asked about Archer’s life, was shocked that he hadn’t had any luck on the audition circuit, and complimented their dancing again.

Archer asked about her background, and she regaled them with stories from her youth about ballroom dance competitions and the time she made it to the final round of auditions for the Rockettes.

Archer kept a nervous eye on Mateo, worried that he would be furious, but he seemed relaxed, eating at least three mini scones and having a refill of tea.

When it was time for them to head back and get ready for that evening’s performance, Eileen waved goodbye from the front porch with the promise to have them back soon.

“I’m so sorry,” Archer said the moment they were back on the path toward the main beach and out of view of her cabin. “I had no idea she knew who you were. I never thought about her wanting your autograph and shit.”

Mateo shrugged. “It’s okay. She’s sweet. And I had a good time, actually. She’s got great stories.”