Page 18 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“Ah, no need for that. You let me know if the book is as good as you wanted it to be, okay?”

Siena tapped the paperback against her palm, and cocked a brow. “Even though you think romance novels are just trashy sex scenes now?”

The old man laughed. “Now, I read some … mostly because you made me, but they’re okay.”

“Just okay?”

“How about you don’t go getting unrealistic ideas in your head about what a real man is, huh?”

Siena nodded. “I won’t.”

“But make sure he treats you like a queen.”

Exactly.

“Got it.”

Eugene waved at the door. “Have a good day, Siena. By the way, I know that’s a series, and I have already ordered the following two for you. This time, you can pay. They should get here in a couple of weeks.”

“Grazie.”

“Ciao,” Eugene replied in kind, butchering the Italian greeting.

It still made Siena smile as she headed out of the bookshop. Eugene didn’t need to make her feel special by saving or buying her books, or greeting her the way she greeted him every time she entered or exited his shop. Yet, he still did all of those things.

She suspected he was the one and only reason why people like her kept going back to him, and his bookshop. Because he was so sweet, he cared, and he never forgot to make someone who came into his business feel important while they were there.

The man should have retired years ago—he wasn’t willing to give up his shop, though. Never was married, apparently, so he didn’t have a wife or kids to pull him away from work and show him the world.

Siena thumbed through the first few pages of the paperback as she headed out of the bookshop. Her attention was fully engrossed in the opening paragraph introducing a CEO heroine getting ready for what was intended to be the biggest meeting of the woman’s life.

She was so engaged in the book she had waited forever for, that she wasn’t even paying attention to the people blowing by her on the street. It was only a couple of blocks to her brother’s club. Kev had texted her four times and left one voicemail asking where the hell she was and why she was late.

Siena didn’t bother to respond.

Who else was going to cook and scrub their books?

Nobody but her.

He could wait.

Siena flipped to the second page in the book, and not a breath later rammed straight into something hard. Her book went sprawling to the—thankfully dry—pavement, and landed with the cover up. She stumbled backwards, and almost fell herself.

A dark chuckle and a hand wrapping around her back kept her from hitting the ground as well.

The spicy cologne of the man helping her up was the first thing Siena noticed about the guy. His familiar black suit was the second thing.

She stared Johnathan Marcello right in the face as he helped her to stand straight. He flashed her a smile, showing off straight, white teeth and his charm in a blink.

“Two meetings in one day, huh?” he asked

Siena wondered why her throat had gone tight again. Still, she managed to speak. “Sorry about that. I was—”

Johnathan bent down and picked up her book. He eyed the title and the cover, and handed it over with another brilliant smile. “Distracted, I think. I can see why—the guy on that cover looks like he bathed himself in body oil, or something.”

“They do say sex sells.”

That smile of Johnathan’s turned suggestive in a blink. “That it does.”