Page 34 of With Stars in Her Eyes
“Sorry again,” I said with a tight smile.
“Sorry for…?” Thea’s eyes searched my face. “Oh—for the ferret’s illicit mountaineering expedition?”
“Yeah, that.”
“It’s okay. I think I’m going to keep my distance from the bookstore’s nonhuman guests in the future. Unless Baxter comes back. He was a gentleman.”
“Fair. I hope you like that book as much as the other.”
“I’m sure I will.” With another smile, which faltered when she looked at Marshall, Thea headed outside. “See you around, Courtney Starling.”
“See you, Thea.”
“Oh wait, what were you humming when I came in?”
“I was humming?”
“Yeah. You were humming while you were putting the discount stickers on those books. It sounded familiar, but I can’t place it. It’s going to drive me nuts all day.” Thea gave a lopsided, single-dimple smile.
I stifled a wince. “I don’t know. Wasn’t aware I was humming in the first place.”
“Ah. Okay. Let me know if you remember the song, okay?”
“Will do.”
“Goodbye for real this time.” With a little nod, Thea headed out to follow Marshall.
CHAPTER 10Thea
The bell rang above my head as I walked into Menagerie Books on my lunch break for my third visit in three days. Nothing weird or stalkerish about that behavior. Nope.
Although this time, the blonde with the pixie cut and big green eyes was nowhere to be found. The handsy ferret was also gone. I went back to the romance section and sifted through the bargain bin, comparing covers. Nothing was exactly what I was looking for, but I picked the one that had the best colors.
I headed to the checkout desk. As far as I could tell, there were no unexpected animals running amok around the desk. There were, however, four guinea pigs in a large cage on the far side of the desk, with a decorative label indicating they were named Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia.
All eight beady eyes stared at me. It was as if they knew my nonchalance was an act.
“You four broads stay well away from my titties, alrighty?” As if to emphasize the point, I smacked a book down on the counter just like I had yesterday.
Courtney walked out from the hallway that led to the office. “Have books wronged you in some way?”
I stifled my fluttery reaction to seeing Courtney and offered her my most charming smile. “No, why?”
Courtney’s answering grin made me want to do that littleyesmotion preteen boys with braces do in movies when the cool girl inexplicably agrees to a date. “You smack them down on the counter like you’re spanking them.”
“Well, knowing what was inthatbook”—I pointed to thecounter display that held another copy of the book I bought yesterday—“… a little low-key dominance is on brand.”
“Spoilers.Warn me next time. I haven’t read that one yet.” Courtney’s scowl was teasing. “Are you saying you didn’t like the book?”
“Loved it. Finished that one too.”
“Already?”
I nodded.
“Wow.”
“All those books in the back bin are a dollar, right?” I pointed toward the romance section.
