“Well, she wanted to get some new decorations for the house,” Kaleb said. “And I couldn’t tell her no.”
“Oh, same,” Gabriella said, waving the tree in her hand.
I felt her arm wrap around mine. I gave her a soft smile, hoping we looked like a happy couple.
“You need to hit up the shop across the street. They have some of the cutest outside decorations, and for a nice price.”
“Thanks, we will be sure to stop there.”
Nora waved her hand between us. “You two look so cute.”
I watched Gabriella blush, but she held firm onto me. We chatted with them for a few minutes before we moved to the next store. We moved together but kept a little distance between each other. Not enough to be noticeable, but enough that we weren’t walking on each other.
We moved down the row of shops, taking each place in. Gabriella ended up buying herself some slippers and some light-up Christmas trees.
I opened the door to the next shop, and we both paused as we stepped into a used bookshop. “I didn’t even know this was here.”
“I didn’t either.”
She started down a row of books, and I followed. I hovered closer, taking a glance outside the window. It was starting to snow.
I smacked into Gabriella and quickly caught her before she fell. “Shit, sorry.”
“Sorry, I was looking at a book.”
I looked at where she pointed, taking in the copy of Midnight Lane. A mystery book I had seen her reading before. “Didn’t you read that already?”
She nodded. “I did, but I couldn’t agree with the ending of it. The author made the killer a sweet man, and I just didn’t see it.”
I reached for the book. “Isn’t it kind of the point? You shouldn’t see who it is if the author did their job right.”
“I know, but that was no sign. I just don’t think it should have been him.”
“Who did you think it should have been?”
“The daughter. She was such a bitch.” She turned toward me, her face just an inch from mine. “You should read it.”
“I don’t like mystery books.”
“But you might if you find good ones.” She pushed the book toward me, pressing it against my chest.
“You just said you didn’t like this book.”
“And maybe I need someone else’s opinion on it.”
I smiled at her, feeling my heart skip a beat at how easy this was. It was like we never had an issue before.
“Fine, if I’m going to read something you want, you should read something I want.”
“That seems fair.”
I grabbed her hand and turned her toward the history area. I scanned the shelves for any titles that I had seen or read. I smirked and grabbed a book. “Here.”
She read the title and frowned. “Murder in the south west?”
I nodded.
She frowned. “I recall you saying this was soul-sucking to read.”
