“Top three then.”
“Can I get back to you?”
“Uh, sure.”
“I need to cultivate the list, and it’ll take time. I like different books for different reasons. There are comfort reads, ones I’m saving for a shit day, the ‘pull my heart out and stomp on it to piece it back together’ reads. There’s the angst, the fluffy, the lighthearted. There are my favorite tropes too. Sometimes I’m in the mood for friends to lovers, other times second chance. See? I’m blabbing because there are too many choices.”
“Whenever you have something to share, I want to know,” I said. Hearing her talk so fast with so much emotion about reading set something off inside me. She loved books hard. Genuinely. So much so that she hadlists of lists.“I read a David Baldacci book once. My mom loved thrillers.”
“Oh, which one?”
“Memory man? The guy who never forgets anything?”Also, the character who lost his entire family.The ache in my soulcame and went, like it always did. “I’m not much of a reader, but that book caught my attention.” I squinted at the upcoming road sign—nope, wasn’t this street. It was the next right.
“Not much of a reader means you haven’t found something that engages you.” She grinned at me, her gaze moving along my face and toward my arms. I snuck a peek at her while driving. She did that sometimes, eyed my arms, and it took all my effort to not flex. “I want to find you a genre that you fall in love with. I bet I can do it.”
“Hm. Maybe I don’t like reading?”
“Again, I call bullshit. It’s because you’re not excited! Oh, this is great. A book challenge. Yes! I find you a book that you’ll like.”
“And what if you don’t?”
“Hm, well, then what do you want?”
I chewed my cheek, keeping my mouth shut as the initial answer was to say tokiss you.Friends was safe. What she needed from me. But if this was a bet or challenge, then I could provide a dare too. ”Okay, instead of wins or loses, I’ll create a finance bootcamp for you.”
“So, you teach me about money, and I show you the wonderful world of books?”
“Yes. We both gain something then.” I turned right, letting my attention move toward her legs for a second. She totally caught me but didn’t say anything. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s a deal.”
A fluttery, almost pre-game type feeling formed in my gut. It was close to excitement, and I fought a grin. This would be fun.
We pulled into the parking lot, both of us wearing our own version of smiles, and I locked Glo-seph just as a familiar voice caught my attention. I turned and found Sherry Wright wearing overalls and a yellow tank top. A former fling who’d wanted more than I could ever offer.Shit.
What a way to ruin the perfect moment.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Elle
The adorable girl in a straw hat and overalls had to have a cute backstory. Her and her partner opened the greenhouse together. They had baby goats at home and were expecting a daughter, who would wear matching overalls. She preferred iced tea, her partner sweet lemonade, and sometimes they had Arnold Palmers. They totally lived in an old farmhouse that was renovated. They met in college but dropped out to follow their real passion; plants. I could see the entire story unfolding in my head, and I grinned.
She handed another customer a pair of gloves before turning to us with a huge smile. “Welcome to—” She stopped, the cheery face evaporating like someone turned off a switch. She glowered. Red cheeks, narrowed eyes. “Whatare you doing here, Cal? Didn’t do enough damage before?”
Oh, shit. I stopped in my tracks and watched Cal totally freak out. It wasn’t obvious to anyone but me, since I stared at him all the damn time. I was learning his tells…which, said a lot aboutme, but he was panicky. His shoulders tensed, his hands forming fists at his sides, and he worked his jaw like he chewed gum.
He’d done something to hurt cute farmer girl.
“How dare you come here?” She marched up to him and flicked his chest. He stepped back, his face paling as he shook his head.
“I didn’t realize, Sherry. I wanted—”
“You wanted what? You knew I worked here. You had to.”
“I didn’t.”
