Page 9 of The Billionaire Land Baron

He grinned as her mouth dropped open. “Maybe your taste isn’t so snobby after all.”

“I like literature, but I also like crime novels and thrillers. Your turn. What are your favorites?”

“Tough call. I change. But I’d have to say Pride and Prejudice…and IT.”

He scrunched up his face. “What? Like, Stephen King IT?” He studied her, trying to picture that. Ever since she had opened the door he felt like new surprises kept unfolding. He was used to reading people and situations. Shelby was a complete mystery. It thrilled him that he couldn’t pin her down. Somehow it made her even more attractive.

“I know. Weird pairing. But the book is incredible. Just totally underrated. It’s like coming of age and good versus evil in a cosmic way and growing up in a small town—I think that’s the part that I most identify with. What?”

“Nothing. You just…I’m still trying to wrap my brain around you identifying with IT.”

“Have you read it?”

“No.”

She pushed past him to a shelf and again, his whole body reacted to the brush of her shoulder against his arm. She pulled a giant black book off the shelf and smacked it into his chest. It was substantial. “Here. Something to do while you’re here.”

He looked at the cover of the book. He didn’t really do scary. “Uh…I don’t think I’m going to read this.”

“Don’t be a baby. If you get scared, you can come wake me up. We’ve got Daddy’s shotgun and my pistol—”

“You’ve got a pistol?”

She just rolled her eyes and kept on going. “—and Daddy’s leg, which is almost as good as a baseball bat. Better, because it’s creepier and unexpected. And we do have baseball bats too. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of. Totally, totally safe.” His mind had gotten lost imagining first waking Shelby up at night and then seeing her with a pistol in hand. He tried to shut down the goofy grin he knew was taking over his face.

“What?” She stood looking up at him with her hands on her hips. She was at least a foot shorter than him and even that was adorable.

“I’m just trying to picture you fighting off a pack of zombies with a prosthetic leg. It’s quite a mental image.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Now come on and I’ll show you to your room. Feel free to come in here anytime. Though I only allow one borrow at a time and think IT will keep you occupied.”

“I’m probably not going to read it,” he said, but he tucked the book under his arm anyway, following behind her through the living room where he grabbed his bag. Her father still had his leg on and didn’t seem to see them as they passed through the kitchen and a back door.

The sun had gone down and the night insects were alive and loud in the darkness, the kind of rich sound you could almost feel on your skin. The trailer had a cheerful string of lights that hung from its roof to a nearby tree. A picnic table sat under them in the grass.

“You should look up,” Shelby called over her shoulder.

Normally Jake would have asked why before lifting his head but in the last half-hour, he’d stopped asking that question. He lifted his head to see a spray of stars punctuating the velvety deep black of the sky. He stopped walking so he could just look. Living near Chicago most of his life, he’d never seen the sky with so little light pollution. It looked almost otherworldly.

Jake realized after a moment that Shelby stood watching him. “Wow,” he said.

“I thought maybe this would be new. Though I don’t know where you’re from. You just strike me as a city boy.”

“Do I?” he said, joining her in front of the Airstream.

“Am I wrong?”

“Dead right. I’m from Chicago.”

“I’ve always wanted to try the pizza,” she said. “Is it really as good as they say? I feel like I’d prefer New York Style.”

“If you have the right kind of Chicago deep dish, you’ll change your mind. Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate a good New York Pizza. They just don’t compare. You’ll have to look me up if you’re ever in Chicago. I’ll take you to the best place. You won’t ever see pizza the same way again.”

He hadn’t planned to extend the invitation—the words just came out. Shelby was rubbing off on him. He saw a flash of white across the yard, a smile. “Did you just ask me on a date?”

Before he could think of an answer, Shelby opened the door to the Airstream and stepped inside.

He followed her inside. There was a kitchen area just in front of them, two cushioned benches on either side of a small table to the right, and then a bed to the left next to closed doors that probably led to the bathroom. Inside was smaller even than he would have imagined and he and Shelby were practically standing on top of each other. She backed away, leaning against the kitchen counter in front of him.

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