I hold her gaze for a few seconds, careful not to contradict her in any way.
“Thanks again, Mr. James,” someone calls near the door.
“See you next week,” I return, not taking my eyes off of Piper. Her cheeks are mottled red, which is quickly becoming my favorite color. Then I walk away to clean up, leaving thosethoughts in her head to mull over. Last time I asked her out, she thought it was a business dinner.
Next time I ask, my intentions are going to be impossible to miss.
eight
piper
Natalie shelvesa stack of the newestHarry Potter Illustratedbooks and shoots me a look over her shoulder. “You need a night off. We can handleone night.”
It’s Friday afternoon, and I’m supposed to be heading over to Elena’s soon with all the ingredients to make fresh Alfredo sauce. But when I chose today because I’d be leaving two people to handle the store together, I didn’t really think it through. “I’m afraid I’ll come home to a pile of ashes where all my beloved books once were.”
“If I don’t talk to him, nothing will catch on fire.”
That’s reassuring. I roll my lips. Bookstores don’t need to stay open as late as we do—nine on the weekdays, seven on the weekends. I extended the hours a few months ago to try and pick up more business, but I’m not sure it’s made the difference I hoped it would. “Maybe I need to rethink the store hours again.”
“Don’t change your business plans just because Ravi is a commitment-phobe.”
I slice open another box and pull out a fresh stack of books, handing Natalie a few more. Despite texting me in full meltdown mode a few hours after Ravi ended things with her, she nevergave me any details besides the depths of her broken heart. I’ve tried to keep a respectful distance, so I know nothing about what ended their relationship. Since I love them equally, I haven’t tried to figure it out, either.
Doing my best to avoid developing any bias here.
Yeah. It’s probably best if I just don’t leave until the store closes at seven tonight. “Maybe I can ask Elena to come to my place. You know how much Harper loves our children’s section.”
Natalie puts down another stack of books with a huff. She flips her long blonde braid behind her back. “You spend too much time here. Go somewhere else. It’ll be good for you.” She plants a hand on her hip, fingers digging into her blue velvet romper. “It would be even better if you wentout, but baby steps.”
“I’m not an old woman.”
“No,” she says, but it sounds like a question.
“I’m not even thirty.”
“For two more months. In fact, if you really want to do something wild, call that author and ditch your single-mom friend altogether.”
“You heard everything wrong about that sentence, right?”
Natalie presses her lips together. “Yeah. Like, as it was coming out of my mouth.” She deflates. “Don’t get me wrong, Elena is great. But you need to loosen up a bit, and he is so clearly into you.”
“You read the signals wrong.”
“Don’t think so.”
We move down the aisle, and I hand her another stack of books, then pull out the box cutter and slice open a box of variousPercy Jacksons. “We knew each other in college, remember? He hated me then. I don’t think those feelings just disappear.”
“Maybe not.” Natalie shifts some books aside to make room for theDork Diarieswe need to refill. The new all-color edition has been flying off the shelves. “Or maybe you misinterpreted his hate.”
“You weren’t even there.”
“The man who has physically been in this store in recent weeks is most definitely into you. He, like,watchesyou, Piper.”
“You make that sound really creepy.” I’m lying. This weird hope is stirring up inside me, which is scary and unfair. It’s giving me butterflies. His dinner proposal pops into my head, but I snuff it out again. It was just to go over his notes.
Right? It had to be.
“It’s actually adorable,” Natalie argues. “If he had any issues with college-you, he’s definitely over them now. That’s all I’m trying to say.”
