Josie looked down and then bent to pick up her wineglass. “I should help Mary.”

“Then you have to promise to meet me later.”

The statement took her off guard, and she had to put both hands on the ground to steady herself.

“All right?” He wrapped his hand gently around her arm and pulled her to stand. “After the party.”

“I don’t know,” she said. Meeting him was a bad idea, a very bad idea. He was Mary’s guy, Mary’s big chance, but she could feel her resolve like a loose thread being unraveled. She looked at the ground.

“Nothing formal. We’ll just take a turn around the block.”

She laughed and then bit her lip.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

He tilted his head and crossed his arms in play anger.

“Just what you said …”

“What?”

“‘Take a turn….’” She giggled. “Who says that anymore?” She tried not to, but the laughs came.

“Laughing at me,” he teased. “Shameless.”

She was giggling now, laughing at him just like he said.

“Acting like a little kid,” he said. He was trying not to, but she could see his mouth threatening to break into a smile. “Making fun of your elders.”

At this, she broke into a new wave of giggles.

“Brat,” he said. “You deserve a spanking.”

Her heart seized. The laughs caught tightly in her throat and a bullet of heat shot from her head to between her legs. It was hot and fierce and it expanded until there was no room for breath, and she gasped. She looked at him, saw his smile fade and then a flicker of recognition, and then he was still. He said nothing, and she felt his stillness settle heavily within her until she thought she might suffocate.

“I need to go,” she said.

He was quiet, and then spoke suddenly. “Maybe later then.” He walked slowly toward the house, then stopped and turned back to her. “Maybe later when we take a turn around the block.” He grinned, and she knew she was transparent.

At dinner, Mary sat herself and Devesh at one end of the large table and Josie and Dr. Bob at the other. Devesh seemed a continent away, but still, every time Josie reached for the salt or answered a polite question, he would catch her eye, and she would lose all composure. She had acted—as he said—just like a little kid, and here she was doing it again. And with Mary only feet away.