Page 56 of My Vigilante Valentine

The existence of the mug, how much I enjoyed serving it to him, and the smug smile I wore? He wasdeeplyunimpressed.

He walked away without another word—exiting the stage in all his broody glory.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Wednesday sidled up to me the second Jax was out of earshot, her eyes wide as saucers. “Okay, what wasthat?”

“What was what?”

“That!” She gestured wildly at Jax’s retreating form. “The face touching? The intense eye contact? The way he actually spoke in full sentences? And did my eyes deceive me, or did he actuallylingerat the counter like he didn’t wanna leave you?”

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Maybe he’s just in a good mood.”

Or, he was, until he got a peek at that mug.

“Luna Mary Elizabeth Wilde.” Wednesday crossed her arms. “Spill the tea. Right now.”

Chuckling, I glanced at my collection of sticky notes to see if there was anything urgent to attend to.

That was part of my system—if it wasn’t urgent, interesting, new, novel, or challenging, I wasn’t gonna get it done. Not without finding a way to make it one of those things, anyway.

Finding nothing—thank goodness—I moved to the bakery case and began arranging some cookies on a plate. “There’s no tea to spill.”

“Fine. Keep your secrets.” She narrowed her eyes. “But just know that I’m onto you. And I’ll be watching.Closely.”

I laughed, picking up the plate of cookies. “Okay, but can you watch the front while you’re at it so I can share these with him?”

“And she says there’s no tea to spill,” Wednesday teased. Then she nodded like the amazing employee and friend that she was. “Kidding. Of course I will.”

Thanking her with a mock glare, I made my way to Jax’s table.

He had his laptop open, but he wasn’t typing. Instead, he was staring at the screen with deep lines etched into his brow.

“Cookie for your thoughts?” I asked, sliding into the chair across from him and putting the plate between us.

He glanced up. “Just doing some thinking.”

“About your mug?”

His eyes narrowed. “No, you menace. Mostly about how we’re supposed to make this look real.”

My heart sank a little, despite my inner hopeless romantic trying to save it with a well-tossed life preserver.

But did he mean it’d be hard to make it look real because he didn’t have any real feelings that would help us pull it off? It was no secret that I wasn’t lacking in the crush department, but if that wasn’t the case for him…

I shook it off, knowing it wouldn’t help to get carried away. “Well, that smooth move at the counter was a good start. Very boyfriend-like.”

His eyebrows flicked together for a second, a clear indication that he had no idea what I was talking about.

“The thing with my hair.” I lifted a hand, demonstrating what he’d done to my own cheek. “My face. Ring any bells?”

I saw his throat bob as he swallowed, and I was pretty sure that feeling in my chest was the result of my heart returning to its original elevation.

“I didn’t even realize…” he trailed off, and then his face shifted to one that almost suggested disbelief.

Had that move surprised him as much as it’d surprised me?

“We need rules,” he blurted.

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