Page 25 of The Luck of Finding You
Worst. Book review. Ever.
“I’ll read it.” I blink, and Noah is standing in front of me, tugging the book out of my hand. His fingers brush mine in the process, lingering a half second longer than they should. His eyes are daring me to challenge him, to not let him have the book, but it slips through my hand and into his.
He returns to my—his—spot on the couch and flips the book over to read the synopsis.
“You’re blushing,” Pam whispers.
I’m not blushing. My body has turned into molten lava. I could melt an iceberg.
It takes me ten minutes to breathe normally again. Once my breathing returns to a normal pace, I know a blush covers my face every time I think about Noah reading the book he’s holding in his hands. Because then when I start to think about him reading the book, I think about him kissing me, of his hands caressing my face and kissing me like the love interest does in the book.
I miss most of the conversation.
It’s only when Donna nudges me that I realize everyone is standing up, moving toward the front counter where I set out the pastries. “He really is darling.”
I pretend not to have heard her because I am not going to have this conversation whenhe can hear me.I head toward the romance section and grab a book at random. “I think I’ll read this one.”
Donna smirks at me. “I think he’d be good for you. Have fun reading that one.”
I peek at the book I just grabbed and nearly groan. Another historical romance, coincidentally by the same author as the book I read last time. I know it won’t be bad. I know for a fact it will be excellent. I also know I’ll end up thinking abouthimwhile I’m reading it, which won’t make for a good time.
“Anyway, think about it.” Donna is walking toward the treats. “You could use a guy like him.”
What does that even mean? A guy like him? Does she mean someone who always seems to be smiling? I don’t need a man to make me happy. I can’t even make myself happy, so how on earth could a man do that?
11
NOAH
The ladies are laughing as they pick out their books for the next month. The worn paperback I took from Tally is still in my hands, which I don’t plan to let it out of my sight until it’s safe in my apartment. Tally keeps glancing at it like she’s going to steal it away from me the second she gets the chance, which makes me want to read it even more.
“It was so good to meet you, dear,” Shirley—or maybe it’s Pam—says to me. “Take care of our girl for us.”
Tally is chatting with one of the ladies. There are only five of them, but I can’t remember who’s who.
“I will.”
“That’s a good boy.” She pats my cheek, and now I know how my dog must feel all the time. “We’ll see you in a few weeks.”
One by one, the ladies hug Tally and head out the door. She waves to them through the window before locking the door and turning to face me.
“That was…” I trail off because I have no words to describe the past hour.
“They’re something else.” Tally glances over at me. Instinctively, I lick my dry lips. I regret it the second her eyes drop to my lips and stay there longer than they should.
I know exactly what it feels like to have her in my arms, and regardless of what I keep telling myself, I don’t want to stay away from her. I want to hold her and kiss her and prove that I’m not the kind of guy who walks away. That not all guys are bad.
“I like them. I can see why you enjoy this book club so much.” I flip through the pages of the novel I took from Tally.
“Really fun. They’re great.” Tally smiles. Her cheeks are flushed, like they have been all night. She seemed so comfortable around all the women that were here tonight, except when they asked her about the book. I am dying to read it to know why she was so flustered. “Now you can see why that’s one of my favorite nights of the month.”
“It was definitely a good time. We should do more. Host more of these. We could even do a similar thing, just with mystery novels or YA. It’s kind of fun to have everyone read something different. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it was cool. We’d also want to start a book club where we actually read the same book because I’m not sure everyone would go for the unconventional kind, but I think it’s a great way to get some more business.”
“Yeah,” Tally says, but she’s stiff. I’m pushing too much, too fast. Now that I’ve started to spend a little more time with her, I’ve noticed that she does not like anything that changes too quickly.
“We don’t have to do all that right away.” I try to backtrack. “We can start slow.”
Tally lets out a breath. “Slow would be good. There are only three of us here, so we don’t want to rush into anything."
