I hated how closely it mirrored reality. The monsterdidn’t have a choice but to be anything but what it was. Frankenstein was the villain of the story, the townspeople, too. I thought of Janet’s face, the disappointment etched in every line. Would they come for me with fire and pitchforks if they discovered my own monster?
“Frankenstein’s monster didn’t need judgment.” I realized I had dropped my eyes, fixated on the dark orange carpet. “Everybody was too quick to label him. A little patience, and maybe they’d have seen beneath the surface.”
It was a wonderful sentiment in theory. Unfortunately, people didn’t have that kind of patience. My impending downward spiral crashed against a thought… atext.“I’ll be waiting.” My brain tried to pound its way through with brute force, but my heart held firm. I should have left it alone, but I needed to hear the conclusion of our future.
“Do you think they would have accepted the creature—” I blurted out the rest. “—if he’d shown them who he was from the start?”
Booker lowered the book, thinking about his answer. His lips pursed while he processed his answer. “I don’t know.” That didn’t bode well. “We all have our monsters.” Some of us are scarier and more gruesome than others. “I think they would have, eventually.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide the surprise on my face. At this point, he must have thought I had an obsession with the novel.
“Are you going to read it with me?”
“What?”
“If we’re going to discuss books, we might as well read them together.”
The knot in my stomach eased. This had nothing to do with our mission at Synergy. Booker wanted to make plans… for the future? While I was processing, he putFrankensteinback on the shelf. His fingers tapped the spines as he moved through the different editions. He chewed his bottom lip as he tried to decide.
“These two.” He pulled two hardbacks from the shelf. The leather covers were slightly different, both with the title in shiny foil. He inspected them before handing me the dark blue copy with silver letters. “It’s pretty.”
I held it in my hand, my fingers tracing the grooves of the leather. I focused on the shimmer, afraid that if I looked up at him, he’d see the tears in the corners of my eyes. It wasn’t a book about a monster; it was a promise. To what? I didn’t know, but Booker investing in something that wouldn’t wind up in a yard sale had my gratitude trapped in the back of my throat.
“Let’s go.”
We wandered toward the front of the store and stood in line at the register. My romance reader waited ahead of us, smiling in my direction before turning forward again. The next glance, she leaned back and whispered, “You two are adorable. Just like my book.” She held it up, the cover showing two men embracing.
Booker’s hand bumped against mine. It’d have been a happy accident until his pinky continued caressing my thumb. A registered freed up, and the woman moved forward. I couldn’t help but give him a grin.
“You could be a cover model.”
He moved behind me, arms wrapped around my chest. “Quick, look off into the distance,” he said. We held the pose for a moment. “More longing,” he demanded. It was hard to focus on longing while I had a beautiful man’s arms wrapped around me.
“Next.”
“Nope, not yet,” Booker said, still holding his position.
I snickered as the teenager behind the counter rolled his eyes. Booker slid around me, getting to the counter first. He dropped his book on the counter. While the kid scanned the book, Booker gave me an odd look. At this point, every look from him made me blush. Before I could say anything, he snatched Frankenstein from my hands.
“On me.”
“But…”
“My treat.” He flashed his credit card as if he were rolling in dough. “My good sir.”
Sir? The kid let out an exasperated sigh. Apparently, he didn’t appreciate chivalry. I wanted to give Booker a handshake as thanks. A hug? Brownies? I ran through a laundry list of ways I could repay him. What if I?—
Stopped?
I met those stunning green eyes. I wanted to grab him by the beard and kiss those beautiful lips. For the moment, I’d spare our annoyed cashier. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
Card scanned, the kid handed Booker two identical bags. “Next!”
We waited until we reached the front door. As he pushed through, he handed me a bag containing a hardbound copy about a misunderstood monster that needed patience. Instead of taking it, I grabbed him by the t-shirt and pulled him against me. I mushed my lips against his. Before I could pull away, his teeth caught my bottom lip, holding me in place.
“Mypleasure, indeed,” he whispered.
