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"Really?"

"Yeah"

She bit her lip, hesitated, but decided to go ahead and say it "Will youmoment "Okay"

"I’ll pay for it, of course--"

"Wait until you see it first," he said, bringing her hand up to histo love it"

He shook with another laugh "I think you will"

Dinner arrived, and conversation--real conversation--continued at a steady pace as they ate food spiced with lerass, makrut lime leaves, basil, and red chili peppers that burned her lips She asked Michael about his favorite designers--Jean Paul Gaultier, Issey Miyake, and Yves Saint Laurent--and learned he’d gone to fashion school in San Francisco He asked when she’d discovered her love of econoh school--and when she’d had her first boyfriend--never He’d gone steady with a girl in fourth grade, spending time with her primarily on the school bus Stella atethis out

When the bill carabbed for it, but Michael handed the waiter his credit card with adept smoothness She narrowed her eyes

This wasn’t the first tis with her, and itexpenses like these were inconsequential to her, and he clearly had money troubles Why wouldn’t he let her pay? How could they work around this? She had no idea how to discusshim

On their way out of the restaurant, Michael said, "I need to stop at ot about it until you re assuether?

"If you really want to It’s nothing special" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking charly ill at ease

"It can’t be worse than my place"

"What do you mean by that?"

"My place is empty andsterile" People called her that when they thought she wasn’t listening

He ran his fingers across her cheek and down her hair "It just needs furniture Come on, then It’s really close to here"

By really close, he ht next door It would have saved her fro the packed parking lot unsuccessfully, he told her to take his assigned spot, and he parked a ways out on the street as she waited for hi her hand, he led her up a set of outdoor stairs to his third-floor apartment "I didn’t clean before I left, so expect the worst Don’t have a heart attack, okay?"

She braced herself "I promise"

Chapter 18

Michael held his breath as Stella walked into his one-bedroom apartment It wasn’t dirty--he was actually a super neat person--but it wasn’t very nice, either

He tried looking at the space through her eyes A s room across from a modest-sized flat-screen TV At the back of the rooanized free weights His punching bag hung near the corner in flagrant violation of his rental agreement

The kitchen was a crae, and a s chairs He kept a plant in the center of the table for color because, yeah, he liked that sort of thing A ainst the back ith bills and things on top he hadn’t gotten around to yet

Stella reh heels and set them next to his other shoes Her purse she placed absently on his couch as she inspected the DVDs lined up inside the TV console