Page 26 (1/1)

"And I was job-hunting on the job," I said without thinking, then winced What was it about this guy? He seemed to deactivate all my filters

"The way I see it, it’s h to want to stay or if I can’t recognize talent and make the best use of it So, this afternoon I’d like you to join s with potential vendors and then what are you doing for dinner?"

"Dinner?" I parroted du and ht be easier to do that away fro you to work beyond your usual shift, I should at least buy you dinner"

He sounded all-business, which dashed the ro unbidden into my brain And then I remeht "Oh, tonight I can’t," I said, stu over the words "I have dinner plans already"

"Then maybe we can talk tomorrow afternoon here at the store My schedule will be a little ht flush washed over his cheeks "I’ll buy the coffee, though that’s probably more of a threat than an incentive"

"Okay," I said, even as I felt a sting of disappoint my head turned by my new boss would be a very bad idea

But there was just so about him …

Chapter Six

It ith a surprisingly illicit thrill that I left the store with Owen that afternoon This was strictly business, but it felt like a first date--a first date with soes, which was really weird, since I’d only justin the background, which made h life with a personalin their heads I hadn’t even turned on the radio that , so I wasn’t sure where the insidious tune had coround music?

When we hit the first coffee dealer, the s it nearly knockeda contact caffeine buzz," I whispered to Owen

He grinned in response, a so wobbly He was so very adorable And he was my boss, I reht up the subject ofwas out of the question "I ood because right now, I don’t have time to sleep"

The coffee expert at this place took his work very seriously I felt like I was at a snooty wine tasting and being encouraged to find hints of oak or le us to discern flavors of earth and spices in the coffee The one tilance at each other, we both nearly spit out our coffee fro I didn’t know the finer points of coffee, just what I liked and didn’t, and that I didn’t like supposedly gourmet coffee that tasted like it had been scraped up fro for a day or two This stuff was definitely an i, but I wasn’t sold on it Luckily, we still had two o

The rest of the afternoon seeo by in a blur--or in a series of quick scenes, all with that round We tasted coffee, hed, and compared notes, and all the while, we really see I still didn’t know much about hih to retain a lot of infor

As we headed back to the store fro a little from the caffeine overdose, I dared to ask him, "Why did you decide to buy a bookstore? Isn’t that the worst possible business to get into these days?"

He thought about the question for long enough that I wondered if I’d been out of line to ask it, and then he said, "I’m not so sure I did it because of the business It’s more like historical preservation, like one of those old-fashioned farms kids can visit to learn about the way life used to be"

"So kids can take a field trip and we can show therandparents used to read?"

He laughed "So like that, but it would be even better if I can do it well enough to ain, even if it is in a retro sense I can’t beat the convenience of buying books online, but h experience to lure people in from time to time"