Page 14 of Christmas By The Book

She stared at me across the table, like she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

“Seth, I don’t know if that’s even possible.”

“Of course it is,” I replied, waving my hand, mustering up all the confidence I was capable of. “You think I haven’t dealt with bigger events than this? Trying putting together a wedding for three hundred guests at a tropical destination with two weeks’ notice. If I can pull that off, then I can do this, too.”

She smiled slightly, and I could see just the barest tingle of hope in her face. Like she was beginning to believe that, maybe, just maybe, I could actually do this.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I... I don’t know how to thank you enough, Seth.”

“Just keep that store open,” I promised her, grinning. “That’s all the thanks I need.”

“You’re just doing this so you can get your hands on all the new books as we get them in,” she teased me. She seemed to be brightening up a little now, her voice lifting as she spoke, like she was finally starting to relax.

“You’re damn right I am,” I joked. “How am I supposed to stay here if I can’t get my hands on the books I need?”

“How exactly did you end up in Mastin Falls, anyway?” she asked, as she took another sip of her wine. The way her lips glided across the top of the glass, for a moment, distracted me.

“It’s a long story,” I replied.

“I run a bookstore,” she reminded me. “I love a good story.”

I chuckled. “Fair point,” I agreed. “Maybe we should focus on what we’re going to do for this book fair first, right? Since this is supposed to be a business meeting and all.”

“Oh, right, of course,” she replied. I noticed a slight pink tinge to her cheeks, as I turned the conversation back to what we were supposed to be here for. I wanted to assure her that I was more than happy to make things a little more personal, but the last thing I wanted was to overstep my mark.

Not when we were starting to have such a good time.

“So, this book fair,” I began. “Let’s talk about how we can make it happen.”

Soon, I had launched into business mode, and she was doing her best to keep up. The food was good enough, but more than that, I found myself gazing at the woman opposite me as she filled me in on everything I needed to know about Mastin Falls, the people here, what life was like. How it lit up for Christmas like no other time of the year, how a few tourists could always be relied on to fill the place out. Her insider knowledge would be invaluable in making sure this fair went off without a hitch.

And, if it meant I got to enjoy a long, lingering dinner with her in the process? Even better.

Chapter Nine

Jorja

“NO, SERIOUSLY, YOU have to read it,” I protested, laughing, as he looked at me with an incredulous look on his face.

“I just don’t really do comic books,” he replied.

“It’s not a comic book, it’s a graphic novel,” I corrected him. We had been chatting about books as he drove me home from dinner, and I was in the process of trying to convince him to read a wonderful graphic novel memoir I had devoured over the course of a single afternoon in summer of last year. He seemed skeptical, but I was pretty sure I was starting to get through to him, though slowly.

“I’ll give you a free copy, on the house,” I replied. “And you’re going to love it. Trust me.”

“I trust your taste,” he remarked. “But if I end up spending hundreds of dollars on filling out a whole collection of graphic novels, that’s on you, okay?”

“You could save the store out of your own wallet,” I shot back, and he laughed. I had started to relax after Wharton had confronted me like that at dinner. I should have known there was nowhere in this town I could go where he wouldn’t be trying to stick his nose in. But, as much as I would have liked to keep the details of my money troubles to myself, there was a relief in being open with Seth about what was really going on with me, not trying to hide out from the reality of the mess I currently found myself in. At least he would understand how serious it was for me to pull off this book fair now, and, if anything, he seemed even more certain about his choice to help me out now that he’d discovered what was really going on.

He opened the car door for me and walked me to the porch of my grandma’s house. The light flicked on above us, bathing the two of us in the warm glow.

“It was really nice having dinner with you tonight,” he told me, slipping his hands into his pockets. My breath hitched at the back of my throat. Even though I had known we were going to end up back here at the end of the night, being faced all of a sudden with that sweet smile was making it hard for me to think straight.

“Yeah, it was,” I replied, my voice a little higher than it normally was. I had been doing so well in keeping my nerves under wraps all this time, but they were busting their way to the surface, whether I liked it or not. My toes curled in my shoes, which were already starting to pinch, though I could barely pay attention to that right now.

“We should get together again soon, talk about the book fair,” he continued. “Or... whatever.”

His eyes drifted down to my mouth for a moment. Electricity coursed around me, and I felt like I might have been able to lift right out of my shoes if I kept staring at him like this. The warmth in the air between us, the sight of our breath mingling in small, soft puffs of steam, I knew it would just take a single motion, and I would be able to...