“Don’t make me take it back, Dahlia.”
I leaned into him as I laughed quietly. “Anything?”
“Any book. Any story. In this store right now,” he confirmed.
Honestly, anything that had interested me in the store was already in the cart. There was nothing I could think of that I wanted, except…
“There is one I’m desperate to explore, actually,” I said slowly, meeting his eyes.
“Oh yeah?” He quirked a brow. “What’s that?”
With hesitance trembling my fingers, I reached up to the side of his eye and brushed the tip of my forefinger down alongside the scar there. “Yours.”
He stared at me for a long moment. The longest one, actually. It was unnerving and discomforting. The moment I was about to open my mouth and take it back was the moment he dipped his chin.
With the barest nod of his head, he opened the door for the one thing I wanted to know more than anything.
“All right.” He took my hand in his, kissed my palm, and released me. “I’ll tell you. Tonight.”
Dammit.
“I have to work until close,” I said softly.
He crooked a finger beneath my chin and tilted my face up to his. “Doesn’t matter. Midnight or three in the morning. I’ll tell you. You’ll come to my house after?”
He was so tentative, his gaze so soft and almost…scared.
There was no way I could say no.
“Deal. I’ll even bring pizza when I’m done.”
The smile that crept across his full lips was so tempting to kiss. “Deal. Leave the pants at home, though.”
“I can work with that.” I kissed his cheek, his stubble scratching against my chin. “Now, I have to buy my books.”
***
“I still can’t believe you spent almost two thousand dollars on books!” Abby said across the bar, stacking glasses as she went.
“I can’t believe I sell drinks cheaper than books,” I replied, taking two stacks over to the glass washer beneath the bar. I had to stifle a yawn as I opened it. “It was straight-up heaven, Abs. There are so many books in my front room waiting to be ordered and organized to come here.”
“Did you…Did you get any historicals?” she asked, sidling up to the bar with more glasses.
My wry smile was unmissable. “Yes, I got a few. I need you to take the card and go and buy some, though. They’re not my thing.”
She gasped, dramatically slapping her hand against her chest. “I can buy books for work? This is the best job ever!”
I laughed. “Yes, you can. But only historical romance.”
“Can I buy the ones with the Scottish Highlanders with their thick, sexy brogue and all plaid everything?”
My side-eye was dubious. “Er, sure?”
“Yes!” She punched the air with her excitement.
I side-eyed her once more and set the glass washer going. “If you want to go home and bring up Amazon, you’re welcome to.”
“Nah, I’ll help you finish up here,” she said. Extra sad. Extra pathetically.
“Go,” I sighed. “I can see you’re dying to. I’ll finish up here.”
“No, I know you’re going to see Damien after this. It’ll take you twice as long without me.” She reached over the bar for a cloth to wipe the top down with. “I’ll help you.”
I smiled gratefully.
“He’s really called off buying the bar?”
I hadn’t told her everything we’d discussed, for obvious reasons, but that was important she knew, so I nodded. “Just as I said earlier.”
“Do you think he’s spinning you a line?”
“No,” I said slowly. “I think he means it. He doesn’t gain anything from lying to me, Abs. I’m not going to sell, so that’s the end of it.”
“Hmm. I’ll remain skeptical until you’re married to him.”
“Well, this escalated really quickly, didn’t it?” I said it more to myself than anything.
“Do you really know what you’re doing with him?”
“Yes. No. Possibly. It varies.”
“Aren’t you afraid he’s going to break your heart?”
I took the cloth from her and wiped down the handle of one of the draft beer pumps, saying nothing.
“Dahlia.”
I moved to the next.
And the next.
“Oh God.”
“Oh God, what?” I gripped two handles and leaned forward. “How do you expect me to answer that, Abs? He’s nothing like what you think he is. If you attempted a conversation with him, you’d see that.”
She softened, sighing as she leaned on the bar. “I know. Fergus already told me all he knows about him. I’m just worried about you. After your dad, you’re…vulnerable, I guess. I don’t want you getting hurt because he’s waltzed in here and swept you off your feet.”
I smiled. “I know what I’m doing, okay?”
“You just said you didn’t.”
“I don’t, not really, but pretending is fine.” I cleaned the last handle. “I do know that he’s not a bad person. He’s fun to be around, and he’s sweet, and he’s sensitive, and he’s just so…different,” I finished lamely.
Dear God. I could hear myself and I sounded damn stupid.