Page 1 of Claimed and Catalogued
Chapter One
Evie
I don’t know who this Santa auction is for, me or the store. I mean, sure, I want to save the little bookstore on the mountain. The place looks like a small hole in the wall, but the creaky pine floors and the big front windows add charm that can’t be replicated with one of those box stores in the city. So yeah, this auction will help save the bookstore, but I also need to find a man, and I need one now.
Not any old man. I need a tall man. A man with big, broad shoulders and a deep, growly voice. I need a man covered in tattoos with a penchant for fixing things… me included.
I roll my eyes in spite of myself.
What I actually need is a grip!
I lean back in the big velvet chair at the back of the bookstore and stroke Bookmark, a sweet tabby that’s called this place home for the better part of his life. I swear he gives the best advice of all. Like right now for instance, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to tell me that men are overrated and that I should be one of those strong, brave women who ignore the constant harping from their mothers and show up to their sisters’ weddings alone.
Too bad I don’t listen to cats.
“You find anyone good yet?” My friend Tessa shelves a few books beside me as she talks.
“I don’t know. I think I’ve got enough guys interested. I’m just trying to narrow down the final list.”
“Isn’t the auction like… tomorrow?”
I love Tess, but she’s got a terrible habit of reminding me of timelines and other inconvenient truths I’d rather not remember. Like the fact that I haven’t returned her crock-pot from the chili cookoff three weeks ago, or the fact that I promised to organize the craft room but haven’t gotten around to it yet, and the fact that I should no longer be looking for Santas for an auction that’s hours away.
“Also,” she says, sliding another book onto the shelf, “don’t forget you promised you’d go to the tree lighting on Main with me tonight. We can pretend you’re scouting for last-minute additions to the Santa auction.”
I glance down at Bookmark, who’s sprawled out on my lap like a spoiled loaf. “She’s bullying me,” I whisper. “Help me, Bookmark.”
When he doesn’t move, I know I have to take matters into my own hands. “About that,” I say, readjusting in the chair.
“Nope. Not a chance.” She shakes her head and leans against the back wall, darting a dagger of a stare back at me. “You’re not canceling on me. You canceled on me the last two times we were supposed to go out.”
“I’m exhausted, Tess. I’ve been pulling ten hour shifts here and—”
“You’re not too exhausted to come to a tree lighting. Don’t you have to eat food?”
“It won’t be that simple. We’ll run into everyone in town, they’ll all want to talk, and I don’t feel like talking tonight. I want to cuddle up on the couch with a bowl full of chocolate-covered pretzels and read.”
She tilts her head to the side as though she knows I’m full of it. “You’re not going to be reading. You’ll be trolling that localdating site, telling yourself you’re looking for Santas when in fact you’re looking for a date to your sister’s wedding.”
I glance toward her and blink once. “So what if I am?”
“You can come out with me tonight… in the real world. Maybe the man of your dreams will be there, ready to drop everything and join the cause.”
“The cause?”
“The cause,” Tess repeats, arms crossed as though she’s about to give me another lecture on leaving the house I didn’t ask for. “Operation Bearded Lumberjacks. OBJ for short.”
“Well, as long as you shorten it.”
She pays me and my commentary no mind. “So, wear something festive and fun. No, festive and flirty. Not this,” she gives me the once-over, “third grade teacher thing you’ve got going on.”
I narrow my brows, pretending I’m offended. I’m not. I love this sweater. “You don’t like my chicken sweater? It’s cute as hell.”
“Ya know, on second thought, maybe you’re advertising how badly you need cock. That’s a win.”
I roll my eyes and bite back a laugh. “You’re just jealous you don’t have a sweater just like this.”
“Yes,” she smiles, “totally jealous. Now put the cat down, put on some red lipstick, and let’s close up and get out of here.”
