I try to swallow and have to force my body to respond. “Well, yeah. I guess?” Damn it, where’s the soothing mom voice now? All it takes is a few words spoken in that low, rumbly voice of his to reduce me to a puddle. “Anyway. I honestly had no idea you lived here when we first met, I swear. What we had was only ever meant to be, you know…” I drop my voice to a whisper. “One night.”
I must be hearing things, because why the hell would his breath catch when I say that?
“Right. One night.”
I nod, and finally find the courage to meet his gaze. Big,bigmistake. Because somehow, we’ve moved closer to each other, and those whiskey brown eyes are just as arresting as they were when he was hovering over top of me, plunging his perfect cock into my… Shit. No. Stop it, Tori.
But it’s too late. I’ve never been good at hiding my feelings, and it’s clear Sawyer can tell exactly where my thoughts were going. He leans in, and like a magnet is pulling us together, my body shifts toward him as well. My eyes flutter closed as I tilt my head up, ready for…
“Fine. I guess I’ll see you around, then.” A slight brush of cold air whisks past me as my eyes fly open just in time to see him round the corner of the aisle before my brain can even catch up to whatever the hell just happened. Was he going to kiss me, or was that my wishful thinking?
One thing is for sure. I’m not the only one affected by our reunion, I’m just not sure if either of us knows what to do about it.
After leaving the grocery store, experimental lunch foods acquired, I stow everything in my car and decide to take a few minutes to check out a couple of places in the town square I’ve been meaning to visit.
With an iced coffee and a cookie in hand, I walk out of The Nutty Muffin, resolute in my decision to bring Cooper and Willow here when she visits for the weekend. We need to try one of the gooey cinnamon buns I saw in the display case.
Just down from the bakery is the bookstore I’ve had my sights set on for weeks. But I’m not going near precious books with coffee and cookie crumbs, so instead, I stroll over to the adorable gazebo in the middle of the grassy square. This place really is a Hallmark movie come to life.
Complete with way too many handsome men, I realize as I watch another couple. A beautiful blonde and a handsome police officer in uniform walk hand in hand down to a dance studio. The man drops a kiss to her lips, and it’s so freaking swoony, it gives me all kinds of ideas for my book. A meet-cute where the cop responds to a false alarm at the woman’s house, and she answers fresh from the shower, wrapped only in a towel. So. Perfect.
I open the notes app on my phone and jot a few things down in between sips of the perfect iced coffee. The moment is lost when an incoming call from my editor covers the screen.
“Hey, Carol,” I answer, filled with trepidation. I know exactly what’s coming.
“Victoria, my darling girl, where the ever-loving crap are the chapters you promised me?”
I wince. Those chapters I promised her on our last call, the very call that made me late to get Cooper and caused the unfortunate run-in with Sawyer, are still not finished. “Um, coming soon?”
Carol heaves a sigh over the phone. After working together for the last four years, she knows I’m normally good for deadlines. Which is probably the only thing saving me from her dropping me as a client. “I need them this weekend, or I’ll have to push your final edit to next month.”
That has me sitting up straight. “I’ll have them done, I promise. We can’t push back the dates, I’m already cutting it close.”
“I know you are, which is why you better find some inspiration or a muse or whatever you need, and fast. I need those words in my inbox by Sunday night at the absolute latest. Deal?”
Mentally, I try to calculate how much work it’ll be to get that done, especially seeing as Willow’s arriving tomorrow night to help me unpack. But reality is facing me. “I’ll get it done.”
We end our call and I immediately stand up. Looking wistfully at the bookstore, I try to convince myself that I need to go straight home and open my laptop. But the pull of my idea of heaven is way too strong, and my feet carry me across the street and into the adorable store called Pages.
“Just a few minutes,” I whisper to myself as I push open the door. The interior is whimsical and fun, yet perfectly organized, and I know I’m in trouble.
“Hello, welcome to Pages. I’m Paige.” A woman wearing a knee-length skirt and cute blouse with a pair of tortoiseshell glasses walks over.
“I’m Tori, I just moved here with my son recently.” My mouth curves upward in amusement. “I love that you named your store Pages.”
She gives a brusque nod, but I see her answering soft smile. “Yes. Thank you, I enjoy a good play on words. May I help you locate some new reading material?”
Her formal speech patterns could come across as aloof, but I have a sixth sense for fellow bookworms. “Actually, yes, I’m a sucker for some paranormal romance. Do you have anything by Lacey Greystone?”
Paige’s eyes light up. “Absolutely. Her latest just arrived yesterday.” I let her lead me over to what I happily note is the largest section of the store under a hilarious sign that readsOxytocin Stimulants.“Romance is my preferred genre, and I personally feel traditional bookstores do not do justice to the multibillion dollar industry that is romance books. That is why you’ll find this area of my store to be significantly more stocked than others. You should have many options for paranormal romance reads.”
I spin around in a circle, taking in the multiple shelves of books. “Now this is my kind of bookstore,” I murmur. My fingers trail along the shelves of contemporary romance, stopping when I hit a familiar name. Mine. Well, my pen name. It’s always a thrill to see my own books on a shelf, and to know my new hometown supports my career? Well, that’s just amazing.
“Ah, are you also a Starla Barrows fan?” I glance over my shoulder at Paige, my cheeks colouring. I keep my writing life very separate from my personal life, so very few people know my alter ego.
“Yeah, you could say that,” I answer evasively.
“My friends and I run a book club in town, focused on romance novels. We’ve been considering one of her books for our read next month. If you’d like to join us, you’re welcome to.”
