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“Rations, water, blanket. Entertainment.”
She arched a brow and smiled. “Entertainment? Are you trying to tell me that you’ve got a TV and DVD player in there?”
He shook his head with a laugh. “No. I’ve got a book by my favorite author. I even keep it in a waterproof bag in case I fall overboard.”
Nora’s jaw dropped in shock. She blinked at him as her mouth began to move with words she wasn’t actually pronouncing.
“You okay there?” he teased.
“I’m sorry. I must not have heard you properly. Did you just say that you carry a book by your favorite author? In a waterproof bag?”
He nodded. “Yeah.” Jack thought this was the perfect moment to blow Nora’s mind completely. He swung the bag to his front, unzipped it, and pulled out the bag. He held it up with pride.
Nora’s eyes went wide, and heat crawled up her cheeks. “No way.” She shook her head. “Did Jade put you up to this?”
He laughed. “What? No. Of course not. Why would Jade put me up to anything with this book?”
“Because Red Norton is one of my favorite authors. I read all of his books. I’m actually reading that very one.”
“Well, to be fair, it only came out last week. I’ve been waiting impatiently to finish it.”
“Same,” she said, nodding. “I had to stop midway through a chapter to go to the scavenger hunt thing.”
“Hey! No spoilers! I don’t know how far into the book you are.”
“I’m on chapter twenty.”
He grinned. “Not a chance.I’mon chapter twenty.”
She grinned but narrowed her eyes. “Are you pulling my leg right now?”
“Nope.” He took the book out of the bag and showed her where his bookmark was set … right at the start of the twentieth chapter.
“Would you look at that.”
Jack laughed again as he tucked the book back safely into his bag. “It’s pretty incredible that we both read the same books.”
“And that we’re on the same chapter too. That’s just …”
“Serendipitous?” he offered.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “That’s a good word for it. Do you know who the killer is?”
“I’m not at the end of the book yet. How could I know?”
“Oh, come on,” she gasped through a chortle. Unless he was very much mistaken, Nora was teasing him. Hell, she was nearlyflirtingwith him.
Maybe the trick to getting this woman to be comfortable talking around him was books.
And if that was the case, he would read all of the books in the world just to keep her talking.
“You’ve gotta have theories. It’s impossible to read a mystery novel without having all kinds of theories.”
“Well, fine. You tell me yours, and then, maybe if mine isn’t too silly, I’ll share it too.”
Just like that, Nora, the shy woman who had barely ever spoken to him, was going on and on and on about the book.
It was fucking amazing.
