Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(24)

“God. You really don’t give up, do you?”

“No, I don’t. That’s why I’m going to help coach your play.”

She glared at me, then rolled her eyes. It was probably wishful thinking, but I thought she might be smiling a little. “It’s direct,” she said. “You don’t coach a play. You direct it.”

“Fine. I’ll help direct your play.”

“Let me guess. If I say no, you’ll throw a bunch of money around until my life is ruined?”

“That’s a really pessimistic way of looking at things.”

“Is it wrong?”

“Not exactly, no. I’m just saying the more optimistic perspective is that cooperating means your school gets all the funding it could ever want.”

I had a feeling I knew what she was thinking from the look in her eyes, and it stung. I was trying to make light of it, but I knew what I was doing was crossing every line I could. If I thought there was another way, I would’ve taken it, but she wasn’t giving me many options.

“Admit it,” I said when she didn’t respond. “We had a good time together at the party. You might’ve thought I was my brother, but that was me and you talking. When you forgot to hate me, we got along.”

“I don’t hate you, Rich. I just don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Damn,” I said. “Then winning you over is going to be a real challenge, isn’t it?”

She gave me a sideways grin. The look on her face told me she wasn’t being entirely honest. She was saying what she wanted to be the truth, but I suspected that inside she was battling with her emotions. “I can’t decide if you’re determined or just stupid.”

I laughed. “If I get a vote, I’m going with determined.”

She watched me, still wearing that grin of hers.

I felt a warm stirring sensation in my chest as I looked at her. In a sudden rush of realization, I knew I wanted more than her forgiveness. I wanted the smile she was holding back. I wanted her to look at me like she had when she thought I was my brother, without the reservation behind every expression. I wanted everything she had to offer, and my need for it bordered on greed.

“Then tell me,” she said. “What happens when the determined man meets an immovable object?”

“The immovable object, huh?” I asked. I rocked sideways, bumping into her with my shoulder. I meant to give her only a slight shove, but she must’ve been caught completely off guard, because she toppled sideways and then nearly rolled off the stage.

I managed to catch her by the arm and straighten her back up. To my relief, she was smiling. “He turns his body into a battering ram, apparently,” she said, laughing.

“Sorry.” I’d never been one to blush, but my cheeks felt warm. Since when was I clumsy too? “It was supposed to be just a little nudge. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. And apparently I’m not as immovable as I was making myself out to be. I guess I should be more worried about your unwanted advances if that’s your strategy, though.”

I felt a smile spread slowly across my lips. “No. Brute force wouldn’t work with you. I think your case calls for a strategy of subtle, slow seduction over a long period of time. Carefully planned advances. Strategic compliments. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate.”

“Bribery, then? I’ll admit, chocolate might work. Just a little bit. But I’m proud to say I’ve never been seduced, and I don’t plan to start anytime soon. You can help with the play, but that’s it. Iris and Miranda would kill me if I agreed to anything more. Honestly, they’ll probably give me hell even for this.”

“Hmm.” I stroked my chin. “I see. So you’re saying it’s not that you don’t want to go on a date with me. It’s just that you’re worried about your friends finding out. I can work with that.”

“No, no,” she said, laughing. “That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.”

She sighed. “I’m not hiding anything from my friends, Rich. And in all honesty, yes, I did have a good time talking to you at the party. But a date? When did this go from me forgiving you to me going on a date with you?”

“If we’re going to direct this play together, I need to pick your brain. I have these tickets to a magician show and no one to go with. Maybe you could come with me, and we could talk after the show. Nobody has to call it a date. Think of it as a business meeting.”

She stared at me like she was waiting for me to reveal the punch line of a joke. “Rich . . .”

“I get it,” I said. “I wish I could just drop it too. But I can’t, and I’m going to keep obsessing over this until you at least give me a shot. So we could make it pleasant, or you’re going to have to see just how pathetic this can get if you keep making me beg.”

Kira crossed her arms, but I thought I saw amusement in her eyes. “Richard King begging? I might actually enjoy that.”

“Just something fun to do while we talk details. That’s all it’d be.”

“Just to be clear, I don’t really have a choice, right?”

“You could choose to say no, but then I’ll choose to keep thinking up ways to get you to talk to me. Your choice. Rip the Band-Aid off fast, or rip it off slow.”