Page 17 of Enemy Crush
He smiles. “This is great, thank you.”
I nod. “Of course. I have a couple more authors I’m talking with, but the final details haven’t been hammered out yet. My goal is to try and do a signing every month or two to keep that inflow of cash there.”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t expect all this.”
I sip my beer that’s just been set in front of me. “DJ is working on your website as we speak and hopefully it’s up and running soon so we can advertise on it about upcoming events and sales. Getting out all the older books and replacing them with new stuff will hopefully kick start the website and that will bring in money also. It’s going to be slow to start, but it’s like pushing a ball down a hill. It will gain momentum and take off before you know it.”
He closes the file and shakes his head. “Seriously, I can’t ever repay you for all this.”
I grin. “We already have a deal. Just keep my books in stock and we’ll be fine.”
He laughs and the waitress walks over to take our order where we order a large pizza with everything. She writes down our order and walks away to get it put in. Paxton closes the file and looks at me with a smile and his green eyes shining.
“What?” I ask, feeling like I’ve been put on the spot.
“Nothing,” he says, shaking his head and smiling. “I’m just…amazed, excited. For the last few months, I felt like I was racing against the clock. Like no matter what I did, I was going to lose this business that meant so much to my family, to my mom. And now, for the first time, I feel like everything’s going to be fine. I’m relieved and it’s all because of you. I can never repay you, even if I buy you every romance novel in the world.”
I laugh. “You don’t realize how many are out there, do you?”
He laughs and shrugs. “I mean, how many can there be? They’re all the same, right?”
“Shh,” I say, leaning in. “Don’t let the women hear you say that. You’ll be chased out of town with a pitchfork and torches.” We both laugh and when things go quiet, I ask, “So, did you manage to go through all the books and get some marked down to sale?”
He takes a drink of his beer and nods. “I did. I marked down anything I had too many copies of stuff that was too old that wasn’t selling, and even compared my prices with some of the books online. When I found them cheaper, I marked them down, too.”
“Awesome. So do we have a lot of shelves to fill?”
He nods. “It’s not too bad. You’ll have to come to the store and help me pick out new books to order.”
I smile and lean in. “I’ve never heard a better sentence in my life than that one right there.”
Conversation is somehow easier than it’s even been with us before and I know that if I had only let go of the past sooner, we would’ve been friends before this point in time. I hate that I lost so much time, but I’m happy that we finally bridged the gap. The awkwardness I felt around him before has vanished and now we’re just like two old friends having dinner together.
The pizza comes out and we both dig in while washing it down with draft beer. The mugs are huge and we both have two. By the time we’re both stuffed, I’m feeling a little lighter on my feet. Paxton insists on paying and I don’t argue. We box up our pizza and walk out of the restaurant together.
“Where’s your car?” he asks, scanning the parking lot.
“Oh, I walked. I wanted to enjoy the weather.”
“Do you want a ride home?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s a beautiful night. Thanks though.” I step off the curb, heading for my house, but he calls out and stops me.
“Can I walk you home then?”
I spin around with a wide smile. “Sure.”
He jogs up to me and the two of us start walking in the direction of my house. He’s still carrying the pizza box with his left hand while his right keeps brushing against mine. Every time we touch, it feels like a shock zap though me. The tiny hairs on my arm are standing on end like there is an electric current between us. It feels like every muscle in my body is tightened in anticipation of—what, I don’t know.
We talk on the walk home and it stays lighthearted, never heavy. We laugh and joke and talk about old times. Before I’m ready to part, we’re at my place. He walks me to the door and I turn to face him.
“Well, thanks for dinner. I had a lot of fun. I wish we could’ve become friends like this sooner.”
He offers up a nervous smile. His mouth opens and then closes like he doesn’t know what to say. Then his tongue comes out and runs across his bottom lip, wetting it. Without a word and before I can process what’s happening, he’s leaning in and pressing his lips to mine.
My first initial reaction is to push him away, but the softness of his lips stops all thoughts of stopping this. His tongue slips past my lips and finds my own. A chill runs up my spine as my hands fist into his shirt, pulling him closer. The kiss is soft and slow but strong. Somehow, I get lost completely.
Chapter Ten
