Or care.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for asking, though.”
He frowns and swallows hard, then looks back down at my leg. “You’re limping.”
“Yeah, I cut my leg.” I tilt my head to the side, watching him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he cares. That he’s worried.
But I know that’s not the case.
“I need to clean this up, try to salvage these jeans, then I have to get to work. But really. Thanks for asking.”
His jaw clenches, and then he nods once and walks away.
Aside from when I made him talk to me at Harper and Blake’s engagement party, that’s the most he’s said to me inyears.
After he disappears inside, I drive back to my place and carefully climb the stairs to the apartment, where I have to rush to change and get ready for work. After a quick internet search, it appears that soaking the bloodied jeans in ice water may help with the stains. So I go downstairs to grab a bucket of ice, then return upstairs to soak the denim before I go to work.
Tandy’s ankle is doing better, and she’s with me this morning, serving breakfast. Hazel will be here in an hour.
And it’s a good thing because it’s a busy morning.
But by the time lunch is over, things calm down considerably, and I decide that after the shit morning I had, I deserve a trip to the bookstore. I’ve finished everything I previously bought, and I think there’s a new book club read to buy.
I don’t actually attend book club meetings. I don’t want to make things weird for Billie, the youngest of the Blackwell siblings, and the only girl. I always thought of Billie as a younger sister, and I’m so fucking proud of the badass woman she’s become. Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, with curves for days, beautiful long dark hair, and a fashion sense that would make any woman just a little jealous but she has also opened this brick-and-mortar bookstore, which specializes in romance and women’s fiction, and it’s thriving.
The store itself is gorgeous inside, with rows of pretty bookshelves and tables set with fun accessories, such as candles, bookmarks, and water bottles. The inviting chairs situated by the windows almost always have someone curled up in them, reading or working on a laptop.
She’s brought a lot of joy to this town.
I walk across the street, hardly limping at all now, and push inside.
“Hey, you,” Bee calls out with a wave. “I’ll be right there.”
“I’m just browsing,” I assure her, and immediately pick up this month’s Spicy Girls Book Club read.Over the MoonbyLaura Pavlov. I do enjoy small-town romance, so this will be a fun one.
Then I proceed to make my way around the entire store, checking out everything new, and then approach the checkout with about a half dozen new finds.
“Oh, this one by Maggie Rawdon isso good,” Bee says. “You’ll love it. How are you, Jules?”
“I’m doing just fine. How are you, Bug?” I’ve called her that since she was little. Because sheisas cute as a bug.
Although I don’t know why anyone thought up that expression.
“Aside from super pregnant and ready to be done with swollen ankles? I can’t complain.” She glows as she smiles over at me.
“You’re feeling okay?”
Bee nods and pulls a bag out from under the counter for my books. “Yeah, I’m okay. Pregnancy is rough, but at least I’m not throwing up every ten minutes anymore. Connor’s making me cut my hours down to part-time in the store starting next month, and then I’ll do admin from home with my feet up.”
Billie’s married to a literal billionaire. A sexy, Irish, obsessed-with-her billionaire.
She’s living in a romance novel.
“I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“He’s kind of swoony,” she admits. “So you bought the book club book. Does this mean you’re actually coming to the meeting this time?”
The smile falls from my face.
