Page 10 of The Best Book Boyfriend
“Oh love, it’s OK.” She gets it straight away. How hard this simple thing is for me. “Just get in and out and then home and put your feet up.”
‘Put your feet up’ is my mum’s cure for everything. In her eyes, there’s no problem that can’t be solved by sitting down for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Then again, she’s one of the most relaxed people I know, so it’s clearly working for her.
I keep my head down and rush my way through the store, but stop short when I turn into the paint section. There he is.
Luke.
Standing right in front of the spray paint.
The very thing that I need. What are the fucking chances? I’ve never seen this man before in my life and now I’ve seen him twice in twenty-four hours.
Damn, he looks good.Hair all tousled in loose waves, shorter at the back and sides. I hadn’t seen him from this angle yesterday. Sleeves pushed up to his elbows, the back of his neck exposed as he looks down to read the label on the can in his hand. I want to lick that neck.What the fuck, Kara?
“Kara? You there?” I hear Mum say. “Did you hear me?”
“Um…”
He hasn’t seen me. Should I say something? Do something? I’ve stopped breathing, my face feels flushed, and I remember his note. The note which so far I’ve ignored. So, no, he absolutely mustn’t see me. This isnothow this would happen in a book. Why does he have to be so hot? Why do I feel like I might cry?
I spin around to make a swift exit and immediately crash into an old man’s trolley that he’s left blocking the aisle. I grab onto a shelf to regain my composure, sending a pile of brushes crashing to the floor.Why? Why me?
“Kara? Are you there?” Mum shouts down the phone while I shove everything back onto the shelf. “What’s going on?”
I stand back up, shove my hair out of my face, and I see him, leaning his hip against a shelf, arms folded across his chest.Oh hello, arms. His eyes slowly take in the entire mess that is me.
“Hi again,” he says.
“I’m on the phone to my mum,” I say back without thinking. He just nods and then he does that sexy wink thing again, and I do the only sensible thing left. I run.
Dodging my way back down the aisles, I head straight past the tills, out the front door and back to my car, where I finally take a proper breath. “I’ll have to call you back, Mum.” My DIY project will have to wait for another day.
On the way home, the vision of Luke winking at me plays on a loop in my head. That’s just a normal thing people do, isn’t it? Winking doesn’t automatically mean flirting, even if it made my fingertips tingle and turned me hot from the inside out.
I do not have good flirt-dar. I also don’t know how to flirt. You’d think I’d be great at it after reading so many books crammed with chemistry and sexual tension, but look at me. Here I am, running away from a man in B&Q.
Adam and I had been together for so long that our chemistry was built into the bones of each other. We were always joking back and forth, taunting one another, and I could always read his face to determine his mood.
I’ve been thinking about my conversation with Luke yesterday, studying it from all angles. I know romance novels are niche, but to his credit, after he graciously accepted my bollocking, he listened to what I had to say. And despite me acting like a bull in a china shop, he seemed pleased to see me again just now. It’s hardly fair. That smile would send even the most unflappable women into a spin.
Was he really that serious about reading a book to change his mind? Am I now being extra rude if I don’t text him? He knows I took the note, and it’s no trouble to send him a few titles. I think I know what I’ll suggest.IfI text him...
When I get back, I find book post waiting on the doorstep and the timing is perfect now that my DIY plans have been abandoned. I make myself a plate of snacks, get comfy on the sofa and lose myself for a few hours in the newIce Kingsnovel. It’s one of my favourite series, following a Canadian Hockey team, their sexual exploits and romantic escapades.
Chet is the goalie who we’ve known throughout the entire series, but in this book he finally gets his chance to shine. He’s always been awkward around women, too focused on his studies and hockey practice to worry about dating, but when a reporter from the college newspaper runs a profile on the team, he’s smitten from their first meeting. He’s adorable. The sex is hot and sweet, lots of‘is this OK?’ and ‘can I touch you here?’which I find really attractive because I’m all for enthusiastic consent.
By the time I finish it, light from the patio doors fills the room, and I’m feeling relaxed and sleepy. This is why I love having a new Book Boyfriend. It’s someone to sweep me away, get me out of my head, and fall deeper in love with every page. Chet is a babe, and he’s definitely going on the Best Book Boyfriend List.
I pick up my phone to go through my DMs and reply to comments on my last post, then see a message pop up.
Hattie:Have you texted Luke yet?
Hattie:Just think, you could have amazing sex TONIGHT
Only on another planet where I had even an ounce of Hattie’s confidence could I text a man and be having sex with him that same night. Sometimes I wish I could be like her, but I can’t separate sex from my heart. I’m not brave enough to hook up with someone I don’t know.
Me:You sound like an advert on a porn site
Hattie:You’ve got nothing to lose
