No reason she’d say yes though, considering he was practically a stranger.
Unless... he leveraged this ring quest she was so hot on.
He took a long sip of his water, the idea settling in, feelingnot so terrible. Pretty good, really. Having a date for the wedding would make him feel—and look—a little less pathetic. Might stave off some of those sympathetic glances, not to mention all the setups his aunts would no doubt attempt. That Sadie was a knockout wouldn’t hurt one bit.
Nine
You might choose to have your hero and heroine working together on a project or working at odds.
—Romance Writing 101
Sadie could not focus on this romance novel. She set down the book, turned off the music, and stared off into the distance. The vast blue ocean met the ridge of clouds set low on the horizon. At the shoreline the waves rolled in undisturbed by sunbathers, and closer to the house the palm trees whispered in the wind.
The setting couldn’t be more restful, but she was anything but at peace. She couldn’t get that beautiful ring off her mind. It was Friday, and what if the proposal had been planned for tonight? What was this poor guy going through? He’d probably turned his house upside down searching for that book. Had he spent his entire savings on the ring? He must be devastated.
She got up and stepped down into the yard, Rio on her heels. “Just checking the box, girl. Stay in the yard.”
She didn’t know what she was looking for, but the library offered her peace and a connection to other people, and she needed both in equal measures.
She opened the Little Library and perked up at the yellow sticky note with scrawled handwriting hanging from the top shelf. She grabbed the note, hoping it had something to do with that ring.
Thank you for putting up this Little Library! It’s so convenient. I took a book today, and I will bring another one back tomorrow to replace it.
Well, that was nice, even if it didn’t help solve the mystery. She was glad people were enjoying the library. She took a minute to straighten the contents. Someone had brought a few kids’ books, so she put them on the lower shelf with the others. There was nothing new in adult fiction, but a couple books seemed to be missing.
She went back into the yard and played with Rio for a while, laughing when the dog bowed down in her playful pose. She let out a high-pitched bark, then pounced on Sadie’s sandaled feet as if they were the enemy. “You leave my good sandals alone now. These are Mommy’s favorites. Where’s Mr.Mouse, huh? Where’s he at? There he is!”
Rio scanned the yard, then dashed toward the pink squeaky toy by the fence. “Bring him here, baby. Let’s go inside.”
Sadie turned and found Sam on the deck watching her.
She pressed a hand to her chest where her heart threatened to pop from it. “You scared me. I didn’t hear you come out.” Sadie stepped up onto the deck.Please, God, let him decide to go with me to see that stubborn librarian.
The wind ruffled his hair, and the evening light made thoseeyes seem like liquid gold. His facial hair had officially reached beard phase over the past week. It suited him quite nicely.
He straightened from the rail and crossed his arms, pinning her with an unswerving look. “I have a deal for you.”
“Yes, I’ll do it.” Had she agreed so readily because she was desperate to find the ring’s owner or because of the way he was staring at her, all hot and scowly?
He quirked a brow. “Don’t you want to know the deal first?”
“If it has to do with you getting Ms.Stapleton to talk, my answer is yes. What do you want? I already promised no more power tools. Turn down my music? Let you have the deck? Clean up the little gift Rio left in your yard? Okay, I was going to do that anyway.”
Thought lines furrowed his forehead. “Maybe I should’ve leveraged this a bit more.”
“Out with it. You already know I’m desperate to get to the bottom of this, so there’s no need to play coy. What do you want?”
His gaze flicked over her face, making prickles of heat flare beneath her skin. Awareness zinged between them. Or maybe it was just her. Was it hot out here?
“Go to a wedding with me and I’ll talk to Ms.Stapleton.”
She blinked. “Awedding? Is this a random wedding or a particular wedding?”
“Particular.”
“So you’re asking me to be your plus one at a particular wedding.”
“My cousin’s.”
