Page 29 of The Bookworm Who Stole Christmas
“What?” he exclaims, rubbing his chest where I hit him. “It’s true. There’s something sexy about a woman with a grumpy exterior.”
“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
He squeezes me closer. “Yup, but you like me for it anyway.”
“Yeah… I kinda do.” I bite my lip with my admission.
We sit in silence for a while, watching the world go by. A few teenagers try their luck on the ice, and they definitely do better than I did, but it’s the two elderly people walking hand in hand that make my heart pinch in my chest.
I want that. I want the hand holding with someone when I’m old and gray. I want to wake up with the same person every day, knowing that they love me as much as I love them. And I think I want that with Parker.
He eventually picks up the cups and takes them to the trash before coming back and holding a hand out to me. I take it willingly, standing up to snuggle back into his side.
“How did you end up knowing how to run a bookstore?” he asks as we start wandering back to town.
“I took online classes. Once I decided I wanted to keep the shop, I knew I needed to do something quickly. I barely scraped by at school, so I needed to bring myself up tospeed.”
“That’s incredible, Maddie,” Parker says, his tone filled with awe. “You’reincredible.”
My cheeks flare again at his praise. I swear that’s all I seem to do around him, but I can’t deny the way my body heats at his words.
“Thank you,” I mumble. “I did what I had to do.”
He stops, turning toward me. “No, you didn’t, sweetheart. You could have just fumbled along, blamed any failures on other people, or just given up, but you didn’t. You kept going. It’s a trait to be admired.”
I gaze up at him, his tall physique towering over my petite one, wondering where the hell this man came from and what I did to deserve him.
“Tha-that means a lot,” I choke out. Compliments of any kind take a while to get used to. My first instant reaction is always to laugh it off, ignore it, but something tells me Parker won’t like that.
We continue walking, the streets quiet now that it’s late at night. We pass the tall Christmas tree lit up in all its glory, the snow coating it in a soft sheen of white.
“What are you doing this weekend?” he asks, breaking the silence.
“Erm, I’m working Saturday but taking Sunday off. Why?”
“I want to take you somewhere.”
“Why don’t I like the sound of this?” I ask, a smirk tugging at my lips.
“You’ll love it,” he promises.
“Hmm, we’ll see about that.”
Parker side eyes me. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” There’s no hesitation, no debating the question. It’s an automatic yes, because Idotrust him.
“Then you’ll have to wait until Saturday evening.” He winks.
“Come on, that’s not fair! I hate surprises,” I whine, wondering if I ask Amelia, maybe she’ll tell me.
He squeezes my hand as he says, “Good to know. But I’m still not revealing anything yet.”
“Fine,” I huff, “be that way.”
Parker laughs, fully aware of my manipulation tactic to get him to tell me where we’re going. My heart skips a beat at the fact that he wants to do something nice for me with nothing in return.
“Can I make you dinner after?”
