Page 64 of Wild Love

"Marigold insisted that I go to dinner with you," I said before he could open his mouth.

Chance eased back, running a hand over his chin. "Did she now?"

"She said something about you stopping into the library to talk about books and me." I emphasized theand mepart because I was almost positive he wasn't there to talk about literature.

"I've gotten into reading. The guys have started talking more about books, and I want to keep up."

This time, I leaned forward. "Wait. What did you just say?"

"I said the guys are reading more. Or at least they're talking about it."

"The guys? As in your friends or people at work?"

Chance cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. "The Wilde brothers."

"I don't believe you." Why was he distracting me with an image of hot guys reading books? And not just any man—Eli. Did he read in his spare time? We'd never spent any time in his condo, so I wasn't sure if he stacked paperbacks on his nightstand. Why was that so hot?

"It's true. I've never been much of a reader. Other than comic books when I was a kid. So I went to Marigold. I figured she wouldn't make fun of me." The last sentence was said with more than a little irritation.

"I'm not making fun of you. I just want to understand. I thought you were talking to Marigold to find out about me." I felt awful that I'd assumed that was the case. But I wanted to protect Marigold if he wasn't interested in her. She clearly still had that crush on him.

He frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Because she's my best friend." Sometimes guys could be so obtuse.

"Eli got into thrillers, and I read one that he suggested. But then I wanted to read more in that genre. She's been researching ones that might be good because thrillers aren't her first choice in reading material."

"Oh?" I arched a brow. "What is her first choice?"

His cheeks turned pink. "I think it's romance."

Wasn't that interesting? Was he embarrassed because he didn't want to talk about romance books, or was he blushing because he was thinking about Marigold reading sexy scenes? "I think it is too."

"We don't talk about what she likes to read."

I wanted to ask why not, but I was still trying to reconcilethe Wilde brothers with reading. "So just to clarify. Xander reads books?"

"Xan likes the adventure ones. I'm not a fan."

A man who wore a suit was attractive, just as much as one who hit the gym or enjoyed the outdoors. I never considered that a man reading a book was too, but I'd overlooked the possibility. "You learn something new every day."

His eyes brightened. "Speaking of which, how's the theater?"

He knew just how to distract me, because I was bursting to talk about the kids and how enthusiastic they were about acting and being in a real live theater. That's what they exclaimed every time we met for practice.Miss Scarlett, I can't believe we're in a real live theater!

Cutest thing ever.

I launched into what had happened the last few days, and when our food arrived, Chance said, "You're enjoying it."

I picked up my fork and steak knife to cut into the tender meat. "More than I thought I would. I was worried I wouldn't be good with kids. I've worked with a few child actors over the years, and I helped them. I just didn't realize it would translate to a room of them."

"I've stopped by a few times just to see how it's going and to check on security, of course. You keep the door open."

"That's in case family and friends want to stop in and see how it's going." I was very conscious that a parent might not approve of what we were doing. I wanted to be as open about what we were trying to accomplish as possible. We were there to have fun and maybe learn something along the way.

I suspected I was learning more than they were. How to corral distracted kids. How to cajole one to learn their lines. How to let go and have fun. I was so used to a performance being as close to perfect as you could get it. But with the kids, it wouldn't be. But we'd have fun doing it, and I hoped the parents could appreciate that.

"It looks like the kids are having fun."

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