Page 28 of The Billionaire's Wife

And yet, despite everything saying that my next move should be to leave, I found myself trudging after Megan, book still in hand. I found her quickly. She’d curled into an overstuffed chair that was part of a cozy seating area.

I perched on the edge of the couch and glanced around. I wasn’t super visible here. If Manny came in the store, he’d definitely see me, but if he just walked by? I should be safe.

“I do read, by the way.” I settled the book on my lap. I wasn’t illiterate. And I liked a book as much as the next person. “I’m just not obsessive about it.”

Megan flashed a grin. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be offensive. I live in the book world.”

I nodded. “Go ahead and educate me. Sweet?”

“No sex on the page. It’s kind of the opposite of spicy. Although there’s this whole thing in the reader world about what the right words are and what they should mean and it can be a lot.” She waved her hands. “You definitely don’t care about all of that. Just know that the book there in your hands? You could let your teenage niece read it without worrying she’d find something she shouldn’t.”

“If I had a teenage niece, that’d be good to know.” I looked down at the book again. “So it’s like YA?”

Megan frowned a little. “Not really. It’s not juvenile in style or content, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s a really solid fantasy. And a clever twist on the fairy tale.”

I’d buy it. I had enough cash on hand that I could splurge on something. And it’d be good to have more than the television in my cheapo motel to keep me occupied at night. I’d been trying to use the library computers to plan my escape—I didn’t want to boot any of my electronics just in case—but it was a challenge to plan to disappear while using a machine literally anyone could walk by and gawk at.

“Thanks. I’ll take it.” I started to stand.

“You’re not leaving already, are you?” Megan’s expression morphed into a slight pout. “It’s been a slow day.”

I laughed in spite of myself. I could relate to the feeling. It wasn’t that I was particularly used to hours and hours of exciting conversation, but I also wasn’t in the habit of holing up in a motel room praying that no one would notice me. Well. Praying might be a stretch. But it was close enough that I wasn’t going to have an argument with myself about it.

I sank back into the couch. “They say running a bookstore is a challenge these days.”

Megan snorted. “That’s putting it mildly. But I love books and I love helping people find the right books. And I love the friendships I’ve developed with local authors—and even some who aren’t so local. I feel like I’m helping them. So I’m making it work. My husband thinks we should figure out a way to set up a café in the back corner.”

I gazed over her head toward the area I assumed she was talking about. “Would you move this seating over there?”

“Probably. But all the permits and requirements for food service…” She trailed off. After a moment, she shook her head. “It’s a lot.”

“I guess I can see that. It’s certainly different than books.”

“So much different. Plus, I like the café owners down at the corner and I wouldn’t want to undercut their bottom line just to try and make mine better. We have a little mutual promo that we’re trying, but so far it feels like I’m sending a ton of people down there to get coffee and not seeing many people show up here to buy a book.” Megan shrugged. “Anyway, there’s no reason you would possibly care. Tell me what brought you into town.”

I blinked. I’d hoped to have successfully sidestepped the question earlier. “Visiting an old friend.”

“Oh, that’s always so nice to catch up. Will you stay long?”

I shook my head. “No. I should be on my way out of town already, honestly.”

“It can be hard to get away from home. Where’s home?”

It was probably normal chatty small talk, but man it felt nosy. “It’s kind of in flux at the moment. That’s why I had the flexibility to make the trek out to see my friend.”

“How exciting.” Megan looked around the bookstore. “I love this place, but it makes traveling tough. I have some great employees, but they tend to have a lot of emergencies. Most of which I figure are probably just better offers than working.”

“High school students?”

“And housewives and retirees. They’re great, though. And mostly I don’t mind shouldering the bulk of the work. But sometimes I dream of being able to get away for more than a week at a time.” Megan sighed.

The bell over the door jingled and I looked over, my heart frozen.

But it wasn’t Manny. I let out my breath.

“Hey, babe.” Megan popped to her feet and hurried over to greet the man with a hug and kiss that were on the steamier side of publicly acceptable. “Come meet Faith. She’s leaving town soon, but she popped in because of the fairy tale display.”

“Faith?” The man looked over at me, his expression considering. He followed Megan to the seating area.

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