Page 93 of Passenger Princess

"Yesterday, your man pulled me aside."

My heart sinks to the floor, and all blood drains from my face as we've not told anyone but Harper and Jules about there being anus.

"Oh, we're not?—"

"She knows, Princess, it’s all good. She's good people," Jaime says, pulling me to his side with an arm on my waist.

"And he made me sign an NDA before we talked."

Now, my eyes go wide, and I push him on the shoulder. "Jaime! I can't believe you made her sign anNDA!I'm so sorry, I'm not actually a drama queen, he's just very protective," I say to the smiling owner.

"We are five days from this chaos being over. I'm not risking that now," Jaime grumbles.

"I didn't mind at all. Ilovelove. Forbidden romance is a top-tier trope." I fight the blush burning on my cheeks. "So he pulled me aside and asked if I could open later or close for a few hours so you could shop. I, of course, said yes. I'm so grateful for you coming here yesterday and promoting my bookstore. The area isn't the most well-known, and getting the name out there... It meant a lot to me. What you're doing for small businesses is amazing."

I open my mouth but don't speak because I'm unsure of what to say. Whenever someone talks to me like that, I feel wildly uncomfortable, like they think I'm making some grand gesture when I'm just living my life.

"Anyway, I'm going to head into the back, give you two some privacy to wander and shop."

"Two o'clock, right?" Jaime asks, and Rosie nods.

"Yes! We open at three today, and with the press from yesterday, I want to make sure you two have privacy before people come here.

"Perfect. Thank you," Jaime says, and he nods, heading to the back.

"What..." I look around. "What is this?"

"I'm taking you shopping."

"You're…you're taking me shopping?" He smiles wide and nods, crossing his arms on his chest. "You're taking me shopping, and you closed down the entire store so I could buy books in peace?"

"Exactly. Whatever you want, it's yours, Ava. You already filled a duffel bag with the books you've read on this trip. What's a dozenmore?"

"I have money, Jaime. I can?—"

"This is a date, Ava." The words stick in the air around us, seemingly to twinkle in this pink store with gorgeous books all around. "We haven't had one of those yet. I don't know when we'll get a chance, so I'm taking this one. And I figured." A blush blooms on his cheeks, and he suddenly looks almost...shy. "I figured it would be a good first date to remember, letting you go crazy in your favorite kind of place."

"Oh my god," I whisper, and he suddenly looks on guard.

"What?" I take a step closer to him, closing the gap between us. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. It's just…you'resointo me," I whisper, letting a hand trail up his front until my hand is on his shoulder.

"You have no fucking idea," he says before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. It's a sweet kiss, not completely devoid of the fire that always seems to be burning in the background, but this time just a press of lips on lips. His are soft and warm, the scruff of his chin grating along mine as my hand moves to his neck as his hand moves to my waist, pulling me in tight.

We stand like that, gently kissing like we have all the time in the world, before he finally lets my lips go, pressing his forehead to mine.

"But we don't have all day, so I can't just kiss you in a bookstore indefinitely."

"Bummer," I whisper, and he smiles. "That would be a really good first date."

"Maybe our second one," he says, pushing my hair behind my ear. "Now go shopping."

"How many books can I get?" I ask, stepping back and bouncing on the toes of my shoes in my sneakers.

"However many I can hold, Princess."

"Is that a challenge?" My eyes move to his arms before leaning in to grip his bicep that my hand could barely get a quarter around. "I bet you could hold alotof books."

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