‘But it’sexhausting! Earlier we spent more time arguing than brainstorming. I could’ve used that time to write a report!’
‘And then you’d have to go back and forth on emails discussing it. It’s much better to hammer these things out in person. Have you chosen a book for him yet?’
‘No,’ I sighed.
‘Well, do that ASAP. It’ll help him to understand romance and once he gets why it’s so amazing, I’m sure you’ll work better together.’
‘Okay.’ I blew out a frustrated breath.
Normally I was overflowing with recommendations. Give me two minutes with someone and I’d be able to write them a list of at least a dozen books they’d love. But what do you recommend to someone who doesn’t even like the genre and isn’t willing to change his mind?
Office DelightandIllicit Delightwere two of my all-time favourite books, but I just couldn’t bring myself to give those to Ben. If he talked shit about them, I’d hate him even more.
It’d be like someone calling your adorable newborn baby ugly or slagging off your favourite songs. I wasn’t prepared to acceptanycriticism on those books.
And every other novel I loved was filled with tropes that I knew he’d hate.
I’d even considered some romantasy but dismissed those because he’d think they were too chunky. For the first time ever, I was stumped.
I couldn’t tell Jess that, though. Although we were best friends, she’d hired me to do a job and I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t capable. I’d figure it out, somehow.
‘How’s the wedding planning going?’ I asked, deciding it was safer to change the subject.
‘Slower than a snail race,’ Jess sighed. ‘It’s just been so busy at the library, I haven’t even had a chance to think about it. Thelast time I tried, I saw how much everything costs, which was so depressing. All the venues I liked were over twenty grand!Twenty grand!Then there’s the dress, the flowers, the cake. Ugh. Why does getting married have to be so expensive?’
‘That’s crazy!’ I gasped. ‘Well, I’m here now. Leave it with me. I’ll get on the case and see if I can find some more cost-effective options.’
‘Thanks. Even though we got that investment from Theo’s friends, Nico and Liam, we still have to be careful with spending.’
‘Especially now you’ve got two new staff members to pay.’ My stomach tightened.
‘Yes, but don’t worry about that. We wouldn’t have hired you or Ben if we couldn’t afford it. We have money for salaries, just not extravagant weddings!’ Jess laughed and the sound was so infectious.
‘Thanks again for giving me a job,’ I said. ‘I’m so happy to be here, working with you.’
‘You’re welcome! And me too! It’s going to be great. And you’ll work things out with Ben.’
If only I shared her enthusiasm.
‘What’s this?’ Ben said as I dropped the book on the table in front of him.
After I got back to the B&B after dinner with Jess, I practically spent all night thinking of what novel to recommend to Ben, then came to the library to go through my shortlist.
‘It’s a called a book. If you turn the pages, it has lots of words for you to read and those words create astory!’ I replied, myvoice dripping with sarcasm. I don’t know why, but for some reason Ben pushed more buttons than a sound engineer.
‘Very funny.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I can see that it’s a book, but why are you giving it to me?’
‘One of the conditions of you keeping your job here is that you have to read one book a week thatIchoose as part of your romance rehabilitation programme, remember?’
‘Pretty sure Jess was joking about that.’
‘Pretty sure she wasn’t.’ I put my hands on my hips. ‘If you want me to email her to get the instructions in writing, that can be arranged.’ I cocked my eyebrow.
‘Fine,’ he huffed. ‘I’ll read it.’
‘Readit, don’t skim it. I’ll have questions about it next week.’
‘What is this? A fucking exam?’
