Page 47 of With Stars in Her Eyes
Courtney’s upturned nose was pink in the cold, but her green eyes seemed even brighter today. “Well…”
“All of y’all owed Ms. Jeannie a favor?”
Before Courtney could respond, a man jumped out from the shadows near where the truck and the hitch were joined. “Everyoneowes Jeannie Gallagher-Keegan a favor.”
“Who are you?” I said, completely forgetting my manners. “Sorr—”
He shook off my attempts to apologize for my rudeness and held out a hand. He wasn’t quite as tall as Marshall, but he was nearly as broad. “I’m Nic.”
“My cousin.” Courtney ruffled his hair, then grabbed a fleece hat out of his coat pocket and pulled it onto his head. She handed him gloves with an almost maternal amount of fussiness. Her voice rarely sounded that confident in the bookstore. “And we were told you have an emergency situation.”
“Nice to meet you.” His voice was gruff, almost smoky. He patted the hood. “The truck should fit a lot in the back, and with Jeannie’s trailer—”
“I’m confused, I already have a moving company coming…”
Nic shook his head. “Oh, it’s actually for—”
Courtney covered his mouth with her gloved hand. “Ms. Jeannie said she would explain, Nicky.” She grinned at me.
Andhoo boy, that smile. If I was blushing as intensely as it felt like I was, hopefully they would just think it was the cold.
Nic’s eyes flicked toward his cousin and then back at me. Her head twitched in what might have been a subtle nod. Therewas a question and answer in that quick exchange. “Alrighty then…”
I loosened my scarf a smidge.Am I sweating?Both Nic and Courtney had piercing green eyes, though Courtney’s were a warmer shade. Nic pushed away her hand, which led to another wordless exchange between the two. I definitely hadn’t had enough coffee yet to interpret this.
Samantha slurped her coffee more loudly than necessary as if she were deliberately trying to distract me from whatever was happening on Courtney’s and Nic’s faces. “Oh, thank god Marshall told you where the best coffee is, which means…” She opened the pink box. “She brought Sal’s doughnuts. Perfect moving-day food.”
I frowned. “But my moving truck won’t get here until Thursday.”
“Ms. Jeannie.” Samantha shrugged as if this would explain everything.
Nic grabbed himself a coffee and put a doughnut in his mouth before opening the driver’s side door. “But it’s all good. Be excited,” he said through his mouth full of doughnut.
“Right now I’m just confused.” I gave Courtney a look of desperate befuddlement.
“Well, in that case…” Courtney leaned a little closer. “I recommend chocolate frosted with sprinkles.” Her hand emerged between us with her partially eaten doughnut held there.
I narrowed my eyes and snapped a bite of the doughnut quicker than a swamp rattlesnake.
“Hey. Get your own.” Laughing, Courtney tried to snatch the doughnut away, but I was too quick. I grabbed the doughnut and scored another big bite before she could move away.
Somehow my other hand had ended up holding her waist, so she couldn’t escape. It was close to how we had stood clinched together in the romance section. I chewed and swallowed slowly, with my eyes never leaving hers. “Sharing is caring, Miss Starling.” I still held the doughnut between us.
Courtney’s eyes narrowed, and she took a bite without taking the doughnut out of my hand. When her mouth wasn’t dangerouslyfull, she smirked. “I never went to kindergarten, so I think I skipped that lesson, Thea Quinn.” Her next comically large bite made the doughnut disappear into her mouth, with her lips just grazing my fingers.
A throat cleared behind us, and Samantha muttered something that sounded like “Toldja so” to Nic, both of whom were leaning against the truck cab with amused expressions. Humiliatingly, I’d completely forgotten they were there at all for several seconds.
My hand slid off Courtney’s waist. “Um… Looks like you’re saving some sprinkles and chocolate for later.”
“Where?” Courtney laughed.
“Basically everywhere.” I held out a napkin to her, aware of the places on my fingertips that her lips had grazed just seconds earlier.
Samantha muttered something else, but I couldn’t make out any words this time. Before one of us could say anything else, Jeannie came out of the door again, holding a packet of paper. “Here you go.”
“Wait…” I looked it over. “This is alease?”
Jeannie nodded. “I did some research, and it seems like a reasonable price for the area. You don’t have to sign it now. Read it over and give it to Samantha whenever you sign. She can give it to her grandpa.”
