Page 15 of My Biker

“So what is your deal, Sloane? I know you’re into books because of the huge ass wagon full of them you were hauling around, but what else are you into?”

“Uh, working?” I laughed. “If I’m not reading, I’m working.” Seriously, that was my life. Work and reading.

“And what kind of work do you do?” he asked.

“Uh, well, I work in a factory. I’m one of the machine operators.” It was not at all a glamorous job, but it more than paid my bills and supported my book addiction.

Aero sat back and shook his head. “You just keep throwing curveballs at me, babe. I thought for sure you would have said librarian or something like that.”

Oh, I had thought about being a librarian before, but I would have had to go back to school, and the pay at the factory was a lot better. Besides, I probably would have gotten fired being a librarian because I would have read all day and not actually worked. When books were at the ready, it was hard for me to resist them.

I shrugged and pushed my plate away. “I think I spend enough time with my books the way it is. I think if my job was being surrounded by books, I would never be in reality.”

“Nah,” Aero shrugged, “I think you’ve got a pretty good grasp on reality. I mean, you are sitting here with me right now and not reading a book.”

“Yeah, but sitting here with you seems like I’m in one of my books,” I pointed out. “You have no idea how many times I have read about the shy girl being swept off her feet by the dangerous biker.”

“That just goes to show all of those books you read are based on reality.”

I quirked my eyebrow. “You really don’t understand what I read.”

“Tell me,” he countered. “Tell me what you read that makes you want to be in a book rather than sitting here with me.”

“I never said I would rather be reading than sitting here with you,” I protested. I had specifically said that being here with him was like a book coming to life.

“Okay, okay, you didn’t say that, but you obviously would rather be reading ninety percent of the time.” He nodded to my shirt.

I looked down at my chest and cringed.I’d Rather Be Readingwas plastered across my chest. “It’s just a saying,” I laughed sheepishly. “I mean, who wouldn’t rather be reading than, say, being at the dentist?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Tell me about your books, babe,” he insisted.

“Uh, really?” I had never had someone ask me to tell them about my books. Sure, I had book friends on the internet whom I talked to about what I was reading, but someone who was physically sitting across from me? Never.

“Yeah.” Aero signaled to the waitress. “Can we get another round?” he asked.

“Sure, sugar,” the waitress called.

I waved my hand. “Just water for me, please.” I did not need my head to be foggy with Aero sitting next to me. I still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a dream and wanted to do everything I could to stay asleep.

The waitress nodded and headed over to the bar.

I tapped my fingers on the table and looked around at everyone talking and having a good time.

“Sloane,” Aero called. “You better start telling me about your books, or I’m going to have to creep into your room and start reading them for myself.”

Yeah, that was not going to happen. “Uh, well, I like to read a little bit of everything, though they have romance in them. Bikers, cowboys, billionaires, and, uh,….” I trailed off and swallowed my words.

“And what?” he laughed. “You’ve got me intrigued, babe.”

“Shifters and aliens,” I mumbled.

Aero tipped his head to the side. “What? Did you just say aliens?” he laughed. “Like E.T.?”

I shook my head. Not at all like E.T. “Um, no.”

He leveled his gaze on me. “Spit it out, Sloane, or I’m heading to your room.”

He wouldn’t find an alien book in my room, but he would if he scrolled through my Kindle. “It’s a niche genre, Aero.” And a damn good one, but one that most people who didn’t read romance would not understand. Hell, even Dove didn’t know about the hot blue aliens I loved.

---