Page 62 of Rosie and the Beast Next Door

“No, of course not. You know Dylan, right?” She swallowed, then said, “My boyfriend.”

Hearing her say it sent a zing through me, though I didn’t show it. I continued to paint the wall as if it took my full attention.

“Yeah, I know him.” And wished he didn’t, based on his tone. Well, the feeling was mutual. “Have you startedShrubs of Fogyet?”

“I’ve started it, but I’m not that far in yet. I really want to savor it, you know?”

“Yes, absolutely. I’m blown away by how the narrator’s self-loathing signals his distaste for capitalism, and being in second person, it’s a projection onto ourselves.”

“He’s stuck in the cog of a machine he created. I didn’t feel bad for him,” I said.

Rosie and Max whipped toward me. “You’ve readShrubs of Fog?” Rosie asked. Her eyes lit up the way they sometimes did when she had a plan. Hopefully this plan wouldn’t involve any propositions.

Actually, hopefully they did.

I turned back to painting the wall. My brain was all over the place. “Yes. My teammate, Bret, is friends with the author, so we all read it when it came out. I hated it, for the record.”

“You are full of surprises, Dylan Savage,” Rosie said, shaking her head with a smile.

“I’m surprised you found time to read it, between all the romance novels,” Max said with some asperity.

“You follow me on social media?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve had at least ten people ask me to order that book into the store.”

“Oh. You’re welcome.”

“No, that’s not what I—”

“Not a fan of romance novels, I take it?”

Max let out a huff. “If I want to read something formulaic, I’ll read a recipe. At least those are short and sweet.”

“Ahh. So you’re a book snob.”

“I’m a discerning reader.”

Rosie’s hand tightened on my arm before I could retort. Oh, right. I wasn’t here to get under his skinthisway.

Except, he didn’t deserve her. Why couldn’t she see that?

I ignored them as Max continued to talk to Rosie, hardly letting her get in two words in their conversation, unless it was to ask him questions about himself.

Did he ask about her? Not even once.

She floated back to my side after he left and picked up her roller once again. I attacked the wall with a vengeance, ready to be done, all the fun completely drained from me.

“That move against the wall?” she said, dreamily. “That was brilliant.”

I paused. “Brilliant?”

“Yes!” She turned her bright smile on me. “Max was watching the entire time. You are a mastermind.”

Right. A mastermind. I’d been so lost in Rosie, I’d completely forgotten he was there. Something like that had never happened to me before. I made goals. I focused on them, to the expense of everything else. I couldn’t let Rosie distract me.

I gave her a confident grin. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Had I ever told a greater lie?

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