****
"What exactly is a literary gala?" Daniel asked later as he walked beside Ariel down the distressingly cold hallway toward the elevator, pulling at his tie.
Ariel swatted his hands away from the knot and hooked her thumbs into the low bodice of her gown to adjust it.
"It's essentially a charity fundraiser to benefit literacy programs. We go, we eat, we buy books…"
"We seek out beautiful authors."
"Yes, and they donate the proceeds after the convention."
Daniel pressed the elevator button and sighed.
"It just seems strange to me that the same group of people who will happily parade around in loin cloths and steam punk alien saloon girl costumes during the day feel the need to put on formalwear at night to spend time with the exact same people."
"Steam punk alien saloon girls?" she asked incredulously.
"It's a thing. I saw it happen."
"It's not about the formalwear. It's about the money going toward literacy."
The elevator door opened and Ariel and Daniel stepped inside. When the door slid closed and she realized they were the only ones in the car, she turned her back to the small camera positioned judgmentally in the corner and reached down into her bodice to lift her breasts higher in the dress.
"That was classy," Daniel said when she turned back around.
"Thank you."
"Alright," Daniel said, stepping out of the elevator when the doors slid open and presenting his arm to her, "Let's do this."
Ariel took Daniel's arm and smiled at him as she let him guide her across the lobby toward the ballroom that had been set up for the gala. Music streamed from the open door and she could hear blended voices rising over the notes. As they stepped inside her eyes scanned across the room, taking in the elevated tables set up with appetizers around the perimeter, the bar on the far end, and the live band playing on the opposite side of the dancefloor.
At that moment, no one was dancing. Instead, those in attendance were a glitter and organza flock around several long tables laden with books. As soon as she saw them, Ariel's heart fluttered a little. Just seeing the books made her think of Max and remember that he was there, likely in the room although she couldn't see him. Daniel led her over to the books and she examined them carefully, trying to decide which to buy. She already owned nearly every title available and those she didn't have were by authors whose names she didn't recognize.
Ariel reached forward and picked up a copy of her favorite of Max's series.
"I thought you already had that one," Daniel said, poking at the books with one finger to sift through them in hopes of finding something that interested him.
"I do. I already have everything that he has written. This one, however, will be special. He's going to sign it."
Daniel finally picked up a book, skimmed over the cover copy, and gave a little sound like he was surprised he had found something appealing. When he looked up at her Ariel saw his eyes land on the book she held to her chest.
"Oh, lord. You're going to sleep with that thing under your pillow, aren't you?"
"Absolutely. If I can't have him in my bed, at least I can have his name there."
Daniel put his hand over his mouth to muffle a laugh and Ariel turned around. She hadn't been paying attention as she talked to Daniel and didn't realize that the crowd of people who were around the table choosing books were then walking directly from that table to the row of smaller, individual tables where the authors sat to sign the copies. Now she was standing at the first table, staring down at Max Grimsley.
He looked at her with the same focused intensity that he had at the keynote speech. She stumbled over her words, unable to come up with anything that could possibly make up for what he had just heard her say. Daniel gave her a gentle shove from behind, jolting her out of her humiliated trance. She handed the book to Max in a jerky movement and he took it from her slowly, letting the tips of his fingers graze hers as he pulled it from her hand.
"What's your name?" he asked softly, his voice as luscious as the caramel of his eyes, but low as though he only wanted her to hear him speak.
"Ariel," she managed to force out through the tightness of her throat.
"Ariel," he repeated, tasting the name on his tongue as he wrote in the front of the book, then closed it and held it out to her again, "It's very nice to meet you, Ariel."
"You, too," she nearly whispered back, taking the book from his hand.
She continued to stare at him, their eyes fused to each other as if they couldn't bear to look anywhere else. Finally, she felt Daniel's hand touch her lower back and gently push her away from the edge of the table so that the woman behind her could step up into place in front of Max.
"Oh my god, what just happened?" she asked when she got past all of the author tables and was standing in line to pay for her book.
She felt like she had stepped out of Max's orbit and could suddenly think straight again. Her face burned as she went over the interaction again, starting with him hearing her say that she wanted him in her bed. She covered her face with the book and let out a long, shuddering sigh.
"That's it, Daniel. I'm done. I'm going to die right here. Just roll me into one of the room service carts and let them recycle me."
Daniel took the book from her, paid for it, and handed it back to her, again guiding her away from the table and out onto the dancefloor.
"What would they make you into? A purse? A notebook? A tin can?"
The music swelled around them and Daniel's face lit up, he pulled her into his arms to dance.
"No, let's go back to the room," she said.
Daniel's hands dropped to his sides and he gaped at her in exasperation.
"Are you serious? That's it? We have gala-ed?"
Ariel stepped up close to him.
"Max Grimsley just heard me tell you that I am going to sleep with the signed copy of his book under my pillow because I don't have him in my bed. Then I just stared at him. I am not even entirely positive I spoke to him. I think that’s enough for one gala."
Daniel nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They walked out of the room together, but when Ariel turned back, she saw Max staring at her from his table, the look in his eyes intense and thrilling in a way that she couldn't explain.