Page 19 of Christmas By The Book

“My grandma wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she said with a laugh. “She would give me a summer reading list every year when I finished up at school. The other kids would be outside playing, and I would only be able to join them when I’d done a certain number of chapters.”

“Damn, she sounds like a hell of a woman,” I remarked.

“She was,” she replied fondly. “You would have liked her, I think.”

“I bet I would.”

The pizza arrived, and I shifted the bookcase a little as she went to pick it up. When she came back, she frowned for a moment, staring at it as she tried to figure out what was different.

“I just moved it a little,” I replied. “Makes it look more inviting for people coming in. And they’ll be able to see some of the covers from the street outside. That’s how you get more people through the door.”

“And here I was thinking the power of books would be enough to do it,” she joked. “Thank you for this, Seth. You’ve been such a help.”

“And all you have to pay me in is pizza,” I replied, as I grabbed a slice from the box she was carrying.

She grinned. Damn, I loved that smile of hers. There was something so sweet about it, the way it lit up her whole face. Now she was starting to relax and get a little more comfortable with me, I could see her opening up, being a little more straight about her opinions and her feelings.

I could get used to that.

“Do you know what the weather is going to be like on the day of the fair?” I asked her, nodding outside, as we leaned on the counter and took a break to eat some pizza. “If it’s snowy, we should put up a marquee or something.”

“Oh, I haven’t even checked yet,” she replied, frowning and she fiddled with her laptop for a moment before she pulled up the local news.

“The weather’s on in about ten minutes, we can check then,” she told me.

“Good, I don’t want anything distracting me from my pizza,” I joked as I took another bite.

“How does it compare to the pizza on the West Coast?” she asked me, cocking her head to the side. “I bet they have some really good places to eat out there.”

“They do, but they’re not really known for their pizza,” I replied. “Plus, the company isn’t nearly as good.”

Her cheeks flushed a little when I said that, but, before I could follow up on it, the door chimed to announce a customer.

“Sorry, we’re closed,” Jorja called to them, but, when she saw who it was, her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock.

Wharton.

“We need to talk, Jorja,” Wharton told her, brushing straight past me and planting his hands on the counter to glare at her. I moved in next to her, gently placing my hand on her lower back to let her know that I had her. I didn’t know what he was trying to pull here, but I wasn’t going to allow him to intimidate her.

“What about?” she replied. She was doing everything she could to keep her voice calm, but I could sense something in her that was struggling.

“About the store,” Wharton replied, tapping his foot impatiently. “You’ve had time to consider my offer. When can we talk about signing this place over to me?”

She took a deep, shaky breath before she replied. “I’m not selling, Mr. Wharton.”

The words hung in the air between us, and I could tell he was utterly shocked. He stared at her in silence for a long moment, and then shook his head.

“I don’t think you understood me,” he replied, his voice dropping slightly, taking on a more threatening tone. She stared him down, not letting him get under her skin.

“I’ve considered your offer, and I’ve decided it’s not a good fit for me,” she told him. She was keeping calm, but I wasn’t sure he would be able to. The way he was glowering at her, it was obvious this was the very last thing he had expected. He was so used to getting everything he wanted, having someone stand up to him like this must have come as a complete and utter shock.

“So I’m going to decline,” she finished up. “Thank you for your interest, Mr. Wharton.”

He just stood there for a moment. The only sound was the local news playing quietly on her laptop.

He leaned forward slowly, narrowing his eyes at her, locking his gaze to hers as though making certain that she took in every word of this.

“You’re going to regret this, Jorja,” he growled to her. With that, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the store again.