It took me a second to register what he was saying, and I turned to my left to see Noah sitting down in the chair next to me. “No. I’m just a seat filler.”

“Are you sure about that?” Zoe asked me, and she sounded like she was about to break into laughter.

“Pretty sure,” I told her, my voice suddenly sounding strange to my own ears.

“Hi,” Noah said and asked, “is this seat taken?”

At first I could only look at him. He was in a black tux, and formal wear suited him very well. How did this make him even more attractive? He was so hot I was surprised that everything around him didn’t spontaneously combust.

Once I shook off my feelings of overwhelming lust, I asked, “Are you serious?”

“What?” he asked.

“I’m sitting next to you?”

“And you think that’s my fault?”

Somehow it was. I just hadn’t worked it out yet. And if I was being honest with myself, I knew this was going to happen. Deep down, I’d known. And I’d wanted it. Even if I was protesting.

“You don’t have a date?” I asked.

“She wasn’t able to make it.”

And there it was. Evidence of scheming. Because who would miss out on being Noah Douglas’s date for the Oscars? “What happened? Did she have to go back to Egypt?”

He looked thoroughly confused. “You sound hungry. Here.” Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a Snickers bar, handing it to me. “I heard you got recruited last-minute, so I just figured . . .”

My heartbeat skittered all over the place. I took the candy bar carefully and just held it in my lap, staring at it. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. To be fair, no one had ever done anything romantic for me, so it was a low bar, but still.

“Thank you.” I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me, and it took me a second to add, “This was very thoughtful.”

“You’re easy to think of.”

His words slammed into me, causing a whirlwind of sensations and feelings that overwhelmed me. I wanted him to know how much his gesture meant to me. “Did you want some?” I hoped he appreciated the magnitude of my offer. I didn’t share candy with anyone.