Page 36 of Only Lovers in the Building

Lily shot upright. “What? I thought I block—”

“You thought you blocked me?” he interrupted. “Aren’t you ashamed? I’m your father!”

“You are,” Lily said. “I love and respect you, but BookTap is my playground. I’m setting healthy boundaries.”

“Is that why you left your job? Are you setting boundaries with your employer, too?”

“I’m on sabbatical,” she insisted. “How do you even know about my posts?”

“Cynthia sent it my way with a smiley-face emoji, as if there was anything to smile about. She’s under the impression you’ve found a boyfriend. A man named Romeo.”

Cynthia was her father’s long-suffering assistant who’d married off her two daughters and pinned her hopes on Lily.

“His name is Ben Romero, and he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my new neighbor.”

“It looks to me that he’s a bright young man,” her father said grudgingly. “Is everyone in Miami just wasting away in the sun?”

Lily snapped: it was far too early for this. “Dad, I get that my choices and my interests and my hobbies and my career path are deeply unserious and troubling to you. I get it! But this routine is getting old. There’s nothing you can do about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to reserve my place in the sun. Say hi to Mom. Tell her I love her, and we’ll talk soon.”

Lily ended the call and hopped on BookTap. If Cynthia had seen their post, then it had to have made the rounds. She was right. Over two hundred and fifty thousand impressions on a silly little book post! Thousands of comments! Unheard of!

U 2 are 2 much!

The dynamic duo I didn’t know I needed!

Ben Romero Romance wasn’t on my bingo card. Here for it!

More!! Give us more!!!

This is the chemistry that was missing from the story.

I need visuals. Could this be a YouTube series?

Their first post had gone viral! She couldn’t wait to share the news with her Romeo.

Lily leaped across the hall. Ben came to the door in his boxers, toothbrush in his mouth.

“Guess what?” she blurted.

He ignored the question. “Do you always look so adorable?”

“Always.” She looked like she always looked, faintly ridiculous in a demure nightie, pineapple hair gathered with a silk scrunchie, and socks. And she hadn’t so much as rinsed with mouthwash.

He stepped aside. “Come in.”

She pointed to the toothbrush angling out of the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be back in a sec. I need to do that.”

He opened the door even wider. “I have an extra one.”

“You just happen to have an extra toothbrush lying around?”

She couldn’t sand the edge off that question quickly enough. Lily imagined a parade of women who, after spending the night, were offered a cup of coffee and a toothbrush before they were sent on their way. If not a parade, then maybe just one special person, Belle/Bella, not that it was any of Lily’s business.

“They’re sold in packs at the drugstore. You know this, right?”

She squirmed. “I’m aware.”

“Usually, there’s a pink one I can’t bring myself to use.”