“I have to, uh, go,” he said, climbing into the taxi. To his shock, Lily dove into the backseat right beside him, crowding his space. “What are you do—”
“I can help you look for furniture,” she said quickly.
Nick shook his head, gaping at her. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Where are you going?” the cabdriver asked them impatiently.
“The IKEA in Red Hook, please,” Lily said. The driver grunted in response and merged into traffic. Lily turned to face Nick. “I helped my sister Iris furnish her den when she redid it. I’m decent at that kind of thing. I just need a favor from you in return.”
What he should have said was no. A simple, resolute no. This whole situation was ridiculous. Instead, he focused on her intense and earnest expression and was compelled to ask, “What’s the favor?”
“If you can’t go with me to my sister’s wedding, I need you to help me find a date.”
Nick blinked. He remembered now that she’d asked him to be her date when he’d been in the middle of hightailing it out of her apartment. And he’d turned her down, but he didn’t have another choice. He felt like shit.
“Me?” he said. “I’m really sorry but I don’t know anyone. My only two friends in this city are happily engaged and gay.”
“I don’t want you to set me up. I saw what you did for Henry. I just witnessed him and Yolanda together. They’re practically lovebirds. You boosted his confidence and told him what to say to her, and it worked. Clearly you know what you’re doing because . . . well, you were upstairs in my apartment and you see how that went . . .” She trailed off and glanced away. Nick felt heat creep up his neck at the memory of his hands palming Lily’s thick hips. “What I’m trying to say is that I have no game. I need your help more than Henry did. I want you to show me how to talk to guys. Teach me how to flirt.”
For a moment, Nick was speechless. She thought she needed his help flirting? From what had just happened upstairs in her kitchen, she was the master and he was the novice. He’d practically fallen at her feet and worshipped her.
“Lily . . .” He shook his head again, glancing down. “You don’t need help, and I wouldn’t be that much help to you anyway. I’m just me, a nobody. You’re fine, really.”
“I’m not, though,” she insisted. The urgent tone in her voice made him look up at her face again. Her big brown eyes were pleading. “I’m desperate. I told you that I have a bet going with my sisters to find my own date and it’s serious to me. I have to win. If I knew someone else to ask for help, I would, but I don’t. I know it’s awkward because I kissed you earlier, but can we just move on and forget that happened?”
“The kiss was mutual,” he said, although admitting so wouldn’t make things any better. He was digging himself into a hole, but he couldn’t let Lily believe that he found her undesirable, that he hadn’t wanted to kiss her too. “But you’re right. We should move on.”
This was all too ironic. If Lily knew that he was Strick, she wouldn’t be asking for his help. She’d probably want to slap him, as he more than deserved.
“If you help me, I’ll leave you alone afterward,” she said. “I swear.”
Nick’s chest tightened at her words. He chose not to examine why the thought of her leaving him alone made him feel like he’d just barely survived an earthquake.
Lily sat there looking at him, anxiously awaiting his response. What he needed to do was put as much space between them as possible, for his good and hers.
“Lily, I don’t—” he began.
“We’ll get your furniture first, and then we’ll talk strategy.”
Nick felt helpless, conflicted.
There was a flashback scene in The Elves of Ceradon where Prince Deko recalled being chastised by his father for sneaking away for a tryst with a maiden and therefore missing a war council meeting. Disgusted, the king called Deko a useless, besotted fool.
Nick knew better. But being the useless, besotted fool that he was, he simply stared at Lily, unsure of what to say. What could he do at this point anyway? They were already halfway to Brooklyn. She was coming with him to IKEA regardless.
6
Once inside ikea, Nick and Lily walked through the maze of kitchen displays, and as they passed by a family surrounding a long table meant for large gatherings, the sort of thing Nick had seen only in movies, his hand hovered at the small of Lily’s back, careful not to touch her but intent on keeping others from bumping into her.