Page 9 of With Stars in Her Eyes
Sam juggled her phone and notebook and rushed to give the brunette a one-armed squeeze. “Marshall didn’t tell me you were in town visiting. But I haven’t been to the pub in forever, so I guess—”
“I just moved here to live actually. I took the piercing job at Squid. Staying with Marshall for now since he’ll be back in Miami for football season.”
“That’samazing. We have to catch up.”
She’s Marshall Greene’s friend?Like, was she afriendfriend? Or friend? Marshall was a professional football player and probably knew people all over. I didn’t know Marshall particularly well even though Sam’s family and Marshall’s family were old friends. I had met him at a lot of family events over the years, but I was never comfortable around male strangers.Kestrelcould deal with them professionally. Courtney Starling could not. This was my own fault for the same reason it was hard for me to talk to any strangers… even beautiful ones who were potentially queer.
“Wait, so why did you scre—er—squeal?” Sam looked from Thea to me.
“Billy Gibbons Houdini’d himself out of his carrier and tried to make a new friend,” I said with a grimace.
Sam shook her head. “Little stinker.”
The muffled elevator music from her phone cut to a person’s voice, and Sam scrambled to get it back up to her ear. After greeting the person on the other end of the call, she looked back at Thea. “Sorry. Having an issue with a shipment, and I’ve been waiting on hold forever. We’ll catch up later.”
Thea gave Sam an emphatic nod in response, and Sam hustled back toward the office.
This left me alone with Thea again. “So I’m guessing you didn’t stop in here to be harassed by a dragon. Can I… can I help you find something?”
Thea scanned the space behind me. “So… the cages and tanks…”
“The shop fosters exotic pets sometimes. Samantha’s grandfather owned the vet hospital before he retired. It’s a long story, but it fits the theme.”
“The theme—oh,MenagerieBooks. I get it now.”
“Usually, if we don’t have real animals, we have some stuffed ones we put there for the kids, but I cleaned the cages yesterday and haven’t had a chance to put them back.”
“This place is a little bit weird.”
“We like ‘a little bit weird.’” I fixed the crooked stack of book club flyers.
Thea’s eyes sparkled with amusement. Her full smile showed off an impossible fifth dimple. “Me too.”
I rubbed a spot on my sternum to remind myself to breathe.
Thea picked up one of the new bright orange book club flyers from the stack in front of the register and then put it back. Her hands glinted with silver rings, some of which held mini crystals. Her nails were as short as mine but painted midnight blue. Black stars, moons, cups, and swords were inked along each of her long fingers. My mouth went dry.
Fuck me.
“Right, so there was a message on the machine at Squid that some boxes were delivered here instead of there.”
“Ah.”Seriously why won’t my cheeks stop burning?“Sam said something about that… One sec.” I dug through the pile of deliveries next to the desk and found the three boxes.
“Do you need some help getting them over to Squid?” This was an incredibly absurd question since none of the boxes were big or heavy.
“I’ll be fine.” Thea extended her hand over the stack of boxes between us.
“I didn’t catchyourname.”
Right.Because I didn’t say it, did I?“I’m…” I swallowed awaythat silly, split-second instinct to sayKestrel. “I’m Courtney.” I shook her hand.
Thea’s short nails scraped across my palm as she pulled away. “Pleasure to meet you, Courtney.”
“Likewise.”
Thea adjusted her heavy coat and hat before picking up the three boxes.
I shuffle-stepped around the counter. “Hey, wait.”
