I grinned, my heart bursting. “You make us sound like fated mates!”
“What’s that?”
“It’s this trope where someone is inexplicably attracted to another person, and it turns out they’re destined to be together. It’s big in theparanormal romance subgenre: werewolves, fairies, that sort of thing.”
Nick laughed. “It’s funny you should say that, because my mum once said something similar.”
“What, that she was into werewolf romance?” I said, wincing as I imagined Nick’s mum reading about knotting.
“No, although she may be, for all I know. I meant Mum mentioned this theory she had about how you got your book magic.”
I pushed myself up onto one elbow, suddenly serious. “What was it?”
“OK, well this is going to sound bonkers…” Nick paused, his cheeks going pink in such an adorable way that I had to use all my self-restraint not to kiss him. “A few weeks after you read yourself out, Mum asked me when I realized I was in love with you, and I told her it was the first time you came into the shop, specifically when you told me that you’d punch me if I’d never heard of Jane Austen.”
“OK,” I said, trying to sound casual while internally screaming,NICK JUST SAID HE WAS IN LOVE WITH ME!
“My mum said that maybe in that moment, when I first fell for you, it’s possible that I somehow transferred my family’s book magic over to you.” He paused again, his blush so deep he was basically the color of a tomato. “I’m sorry, I know how unhinged that sounds. But it would explain why you suddenly acquired the power and were able to read Darcy out that night.”
“I see,” I said, because what else were you meant to say to something like that?
Nick lifted my chin so he could look me in the eye. “Are you OK? You look a bit spaced out; have I freaked you out?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just kind of a weird idea, isn’t it? That you could somehow pass your mum’s magic to me, like a static shock or the flu.”
He smiled. “Like I said, it was only a theory of hers, so it couldbe that you had the ability all along and it was just a coincidence it happened the first time that night. But that was why Mum was so confident you’d read me out eventually, because she thought the magic you had was somehow connected to me, you just didn’t know how to use it properly yet.”
“I still have no idea how to use it,” I said with a sigh. “Last night, I wasn’t even trying to read you out. I was just visualizing you in Baskerville Books when I read my opening chapter, and I felt this overwhelming happiness and then—”
I stopped as a memory flashed into my mind, and then another, snatches of conversation tumbling one after the other like dominoes.
“My God, Mrs. Atallah was right! Idon’tneed you…”
Nick blinked. “Eh, OK.”
“No, hear me out,” I said, pushing myself up into a sitting position. “You told me that the book magic only worked when someone has a problem and they need help from a fictional character, right? So the night I accidentally read Darcy out ofPride and Prejudice, he must have appeared because I really needed his help. I was lonely and grieving, and I’d given up on real-life relationships and on my dream of writing. Darcy helped me with all those things, but more than anything, he made me realize that I wanted more from my life and that I deserved my own happy-ever-after. And then you came along, Nick Baskerville…”
I saw his pupils dilate as I said this, and I leaned over to kiss him.
“You loved me from the moment you first saw me, even though I thought you were a sexist prick and avoided you at all costs. You risked your life by following me intoPride and Prejudice, you believed in my ability to rescue us, even when it seemed impossible, and you made my heart burst with happiness. You were everything I wanted—everything I thought I needed—and when I lost you in the book, I thought mychance at happiness was over.”
Nick smiled as I said this, but it was a wistful one. “And you’re saying you’ve realized that’s not true?”
I lifted my hand up to brush a lock of hair off his face. “Shortly after I came back fromPride and Prejudice, Mrs. Atallah told me that there was a difference between loving someone and needing them. But I didn’t believe her, and so I’ve spent the past two years trying to read you and your mum out by focusing on how I needed you both here to make me happy. And I think that’s why it never worked before, because Mrs. Atallah was right: I don’t need you, or anyone else, to give me my happy-ever-after. I can do that all on my own, just like I did last night at my book launch when I stood in front of a room full of my loved ones and felt so proud of myself.”
Nick smiled, warmer this time. “Haven’t I always told you: Nowadays in romance novels, the heroine saves themselves.”
I laughed, punching him lightly in the arm.
“But then, what changed last night?” Nick asked, grabbing my fist and kissing it. “What did you do differently so that the book magic suddenly worked?”
“I think it worked because I finally focused on a problem that Ididneed your help with, even though I didn’t realize it at the time,” I said. “Do you remember how you once told me I should never give up on something I loved, and I just had to believe in myself? Well, last night, when I was reading in the bookshop, I told myself that my book magic had gone, and I gave up on the idea of ever being able to read you back. Andthatwas the moment you reappeared, to prove to me that I was wrong.”
Nick paused for a second, clearly thinking it through. “So you didn’t need me here to make you happy, but you did need me here toprove to you that your book magic hadn’t disappeared.”
“Exactly! At the moment at which I gave up, you reappeared to show me—once again—that I should never do that.”
Nick frowned. “And did it work? Have I proven to you that your magic works?”
