Page 77 of The Bookbinder's Guide to Love

He saw her head fall back against her pillow and then the slight soft sound of that snore of hers he loved. She must have propped the phone up against the pillow he normally used, because it didn’t fall over. God, this woman.

“I really like you, Serafina Conte,” he said softly. He didn’t want to wake her but he had to say it.

He disconnected the call and then went upstairs to bed. He felt lighter after admitting his feelings to her. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t heard. Now that he’d said it once, maybe it would be easier to say it again when he was with her.

Twenty

Sera wasn’t feeling the greatest the next morning and vaguely remembered calling Wes but wasn’t sure what she’d said. She showered, took two ibuprofen to help combat her hangover headache and then headed into WiCKed Sisters to start her day.

Last night had changed something inside her and she was excited to be embracing this day with new energy. Dancing under the moon and giving her troubles to it had unearthed how much she was keeping inside.

She had trust in her friendship with Liberty and Poppy. She was always afraid to be the weak link and had been stewing over leaving the tavern the other night when Poppy was trying to figure out what to do with her ex. But Poppy had understood. Which was what friendship should be.

It was a cold, gray winter day, the kind she really didn’t love. When she’d been growing up in Florida she hadn’t loved the hot, long, almost hundred-degree days in summer either. With her headache, the gray dampened her mood. She was glad she’d dressed in a bright raspberry-pink full-length skirt she’d paired with a formfitting black cropped cashmere sweater to keep her warm and help pep her up.

The store was cold when she entered, so she turned up the heat and went to make herself a cup of coffee. She heard the door open a few minutes later and swiveled to see Wes walk in. His hair was damp from the chilly morning and he still had the stubble she remembered seeing on his face the night before.

So that hadn’t been a dream.

“I got here early in case you didn’t make it in,” he said with a quick smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Ugh, I drunk-called you, didn’t I?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Sort of. It’s hazy. Please tell me I didn’t say anything cringey.”

“Nah, you just said you thought I was cute and then asked me aboutThe Scarlet Pimpernel,” he said as he shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the peg he always used.

She looked at his thick wool coat hanging there next to hers. Inhaling deeply as his words sank in. She’d already decided to bring it up today, but apparently drunk-her was all over it like her skin rash after touching aloe. “I did. What did you say?”

“That I picked up the book both because I knew it was a favorite title of yours and because of the inscription.”

“Oh.”

She hadn’t really known what her reaction would be. But butterflies in her stomach and a turned-on excitement coursing through her body wasn’t it. She wanted to sit in the feelings for a minute, but Wes watched her like he was expecting a response.

Luckily the coffeepot finished brewing at that moment, so she turned to pour each of them a cup. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to say.

“Sera?”

She turned and handed him a mug after she’d poured a little milk in his as he liked. She added two sugars and milk to hers.

“I’m so glad because I hoped you’d meant that too,” she said. “I really don’t know what to say next.”

“What do you want to say?” he asked as she moved over to the couch and sat down in the same spot she’d been sitting and reading his letter the day they met.

He sat next to her and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of his cologne, and then she turned her head toward him. What did she want to say?

I like you a lot.

I might love you.

I’m not sure I can trust you to love me.

None of those were leaving her lips. Not a one.

She took a deep breath and tried to think. She’d be cool and fish and see if he liked her the same way. God, at twenty-six she should be better at liking a boy than wanting to pass him a note that said,Check yes if you like me. “I like you a lot.”

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