Page 70 of Booked on a Feeling

“Lizzy, this is Aubrey, the renowned chef and owner of Comfort Zone,” he said with a bit of pomp and circumstance. Then he turned to Lizzy, and his heart skipped a beat. She looked so beautiful sitting across from him. “And this is Lizzy, my girlfriend.”

“Oh, my gosh,” Aubrey gushed. “It’ssonice to meet you, Lizzy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard such wonderful things about you.” His lovely girlfriend ogled the desserts with an unholy gleam in her eyes. “And look at all this. They’re all so pretty. I almost don’t want to eat them. Almost.”

“Good,” Aubrey laughed, “because they’re meant to be eaten. Or sloppily devoured. I prefer the latter method. It makes me want to pat myself on the head for doing my job well.”

“Consider it done,” Lizzy said with a solemn nod.

“Well, I’ll stop intruding on your date.” Shielding one side of her mouth from him with her hand, she stage-whispered to Lizzy, “I fear the wrath of Jack.”

He put on his most fearsome expression. The two women had a good laugh. There was nothing that felt better than making Lizzy laugh—maybe except for making her come. It was too close to call.

“Do you have a moment to sit with us?” Lizzy scooted to make room for Aubrey. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Once Lizzy set her mind to something, she became a force of nature. She was just wonderful that way and in many other ways. Aubrey and Tara were as good as booked for the dessert-and-beer-pairing event.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Does this feel right?” Jack asked with a grunt.

Lizzy shifted positions and thought for a moment. “No, not quite.”

“How about this?” A drop of sweat slid down the side of his jaw.

“We’re close”—she bit her lip—“but… no. Just come down from there.”

Jack clambered down the ladder and swiped his forearm across his brow. He carefully placed the book he’d been trying to hang on the floor.

“I can’t hang off the ladder for hours on end for every book we put up.” He rotated his right shoulder with a grimace.

“Hours on end?” Lizzy blustered even though she felt bad about making him work so hard. They’d been working on the window display all morning. She just wanted it to look perfect. How had Beverly done such a good job at Hideaway? It must’ve taken her forever and a day. “It takes thirty minutes, max, per book.”

“We’ve been at this for over two hours, and there are onlythree books up there,” he pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. It was a good look on him despite the fact that he was glaring at her.

He was right, so she stayed mutinously silent.

“All right, kids.” Shannon stepped between them, waving her arms. “I’m officially kicking you out of my store.”

“What?” Lizzy turned shocked eyes on her. “But there’s work to be done.”

“The work can wait. The book club won’t start until next month. And the beer-and-dessert-pairing event isn’t for another week,” Shannon said in a soothing voice. “We have plenty of time to finish sprucing up the store.”

“But—”

“No buts,” her friend cut in firmly. “It’s a beautiful day outside, and I want you to go and enjoy some of it. You’ve been stuck inside this store for your entire vacation so far. The key word beingvacation.You’re supposed to be relaxing.”

“I like being stuck inside,” Lizzy grumbled. She really didn’t mind. She loved waking up in the morning knowing that she was going to work at Sparrow. Whereas, in Los Angeles, it felt as though she were putting on war paint and girding her loins for battle every morning. Working at the bookstore was a natural mood booster. “This is how I relax.”

“Well, I’m tired of listening to the two of you bickering.” Shannon took each of them by their arms and tugged them to the door. “Out you go.”

“Thanks, Shannon.” Jack grinned and grabbed Lizzy’s hand. “I’ll take it from here.”

“You guys can’t do this.” Lizzy glanced wildly around for help. There were little boxes to check off, damn it.

“Consider this an intervention,” he said, making Shannon cackle.

Lizzy glowered at them.

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