Well Played (Well Met #2)(67)

I sighed. Fine. “But I’m not exactly a teenager anymore. Aren’t the Lilies supposed to be a group of sisters?”

“Oh, never mind that,” he said. “You know the songs, that’s what’s important. You can be their—”

“Watch it.” I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes.

“Their much more beautiful older sister?” His eyes turned pleading, and I had to laugh. He relaxed a little when I did; he knew I was giving in.

“Their really, really young mom?” Emily supplied.

“Their fun aunt?” I suggested.

“There you go.” Simon shrugged. “Work with that.”

I looked across the tent, where the remaining Gilded Lilies, four high school girls, milled around and played with the ribbons on the front of their yellow dresses. “I don’t have that outfit anymore,” I said. One of those girls was probably wearing the exact dress I’d worn a few years back. We recycled costumes a lot around here. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t have time to go home and change. Opening gate is in like twenty minutes.”

“You look fine.” Simon waved a hand at my newer, more wood-nymphy outfit. “I mean, that orange is in the same color family, basically, right? It’s good enough.”

“Good enough?” My eyes went wide. I never thought I’d hear Simon say good enough about anything when it came to his precious Faire. “Wow. Marriage has changed you.”

Emily snorted from beside me, and a slow smile came over Simon’s face. “Maybe it has,” he said. Could just a smile be TMI? It made me want to get a room. If only to get away from those two.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll be a Lily.”

Simon blew out a sigh of relief and settled his pirate hat back on his head. “Thank you.”

I wasn’t done. “But just for today. Figure something out for tomorrow, and next week.” I’d had very important plans of doing the bare minimum today so I could hang out and play at the Faire with Daniel, so I was not pleased that those plans were getting shunted to tomorrow.

“I promise.” Simon held up his hands. “I’ll go to Dahlia’s house myself tomorrow morning, stuff her into her costume, and drag her here if necessary.”

“I one hundred percent believe that,” Emily deadpanned while I snickered.

Daniel chose that moment to join us; I saw him over Simon’s shoulder, walking up to our little group. Something must have shown in my face because Simon turned around just as Daniel walked up.

“Hey, good morning.” Daniel inclined his head toward Simon in greeting, but his expression was careful. He met my eyes and raised his eyebrows a fraction. The message was clear: were we public with our relationship? Canoodling at a wedding was one thing, but day-to-day was something else. This was my town, and these were my people. He’d follow my lead in this.

Well, the hell with that. I stepped up to his side and rose onto my toes, skating a hand around his ribs to steady myself. With me on my toes he only had to bend a little to kiss me, and thankfully he took the hint, brushing his lips over mine. “Morning,” I said around a smile. We were public. We were public as hell.

Simon coughed. “Morning, Daniel. Everything okay with the Kilts?” Emily elbowed him, and he gave her a what the hell did I do? look.

“He’s not here on business,” Emily said, and I pressed my lips together hard to keep from laughing.

Simon blinked at Daniel and me, then closed his mouth with a snap. “Right. Of course.” He shook his head. “I knew that.”

“It’s okay, Captain,” I said. “You’ve been a little busy.”

“Running Faire, getting married . . .” Daniel laid his hand on the small of my back as he spoke, further cementing the public nature of our relationship. “You’ve got a lot going on.” I felt the heat of his skin through the layers of my costume, and I instinctively leaned into him and his warmth. His hand curved around my back to rest on my waist.

“True.” Simon adjusted his hat as Emily grasped his arm to pull him up the hill. “Speaking of which, I need to get up front. Beatrice.” He touched his fingertips to his hat. “Thanks again.”

“Of course.” I waved him off. After they were gone, Daniel turned to me.

“So.” He leaned down for another kiss, a better one than that quick “people are watching” peck he had given me earlier. His hands explored the defined dip and curve created by the bodice I wore. “You ready for today? I’m thinking we need to hit the ax-throwing first. It seems to get busy quick. Lot of bloodthirsty people in your town.”

I sighed. “I have to take a rain check.” I filled him in on the missing Lily situation, and how my plans for the day had changed.

“Wait. You sing?” A slow grin came over his face. “You never told me that.”

“I used to sing. Today should be interesting. Wait.” My heart sank as something occurred to me. “I don’t even know what part Dahlia sings. Oh, God, I hope she isn’t the soprano.” I pressed my hands to my bodice-flattened belly, where butterflies had started to churn.

“You’ll be great.” He slid an arm around my back and held me close, his lips pressed to my forehead in a comforting kiss. “Don’t worry, okay? You’ve got this. I can’t wait to hear you.”