Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Before she can finish, Shane reaches around and covers her mouth. “You’ll have to excuse my daughter,” he says. “She spends most of her free time reading romance and thinks every situation is straight out of a novel. We’re not people. We’re tropes.”
I laugh again. “I get it,” I tell her. “I actually love romance. But I’m not looking to date. These days, I’m sticking to fictional men instead of the real thing.”
I wink at Taylor playfully, and she laughs.
“Same,” she agrees. “Romance books make it hard for real-life men to live up to the expectations book boyfriends set. I work at Books and Beans, so my life pretty much consists of romance books and caffeine.”
“Oh, I love that bookstore! And their coffee is delicious.”
“Right?” she agrees. “And I get a good discount on their books. I prefer to read on my Kindle, but you should see my library at our house. It’s filled with so many trophies.”
“Who’s your favorite author?” I find myself asking.
What is it about these two that makes it so easy to talk to them?
Like father, like daughter, I guess.
Taylor wastes no time in telling me who her favorite authors are, and I find that despite our age difference, we love many of the same ones.
When she mentions having a special edition from one of my favorite authors, I can’t help but blurt out, “I’d love to see it!” without thinking.
In my defense, it’s extremely rare, and I really would love to see it.
I realize my mistake when Taylor responds by saying, “You should come over! We were just walking Becky.” She points at the German shepherd I didn’t notice until now. She’s sitting pretty next to her owner and hasn’t made a sound the entire time. “And then we’re heading home to make dinner. Do you like ribs? Dad is a beast on the grill, and he’s making them tonight.”
“Oh, umm …” I glance at Shane, silently begging for help, but he only smiles softly, knowing I’m trapped and I’ll be forced to spend time with him unless I want to turn down Taylor’s invitation.
With a quick glare at him—which doesn’t seem to faze him in the slightest—I look back at Taylor, who’s nibbling on the corner of her lip hopefully.
The word no is on the tip of my tongue, but at the last second, against my better judgment, I say, “Sure, I would love to have dinner with you and see your library.”
Taylor squeals, Shane smiles, and my heart swells in my chest, once again reminding me that it’s still there and working.
“Oh good, you’re back.” My mom envelops me in a hug. “I was starting to get worried.”
“I’m okay,” I assure her. “But I’m actually not staying.”
My thoughts go back to Taylor and her dad. After agreeing to go over to their place for dinner, I remembered that the reason I was at the park was because I’d left the barbecue in a hurry. When I told them I would meet them at their place, Shane looked like he didn’t believe a word I was saying, but Taylor, in all her innocence, shot off their address and said they’d see me soon.
I changed my mind a dozen times on the walk back to my aunt and uncle’s house, but then I remembered I didn’t have Taylor’s or Shane’s phone number, so bailing on them would be ghosting them, and I wasn’t about to do that to that sweet girl.
“I ran into a friend,” I say vaguely, “and she invited me over for dinner.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Mom says, too happy that I’m actually willing to hang out with a friend to ask who it is. “Go have fun.” She kisses my cheek. “I love you, Kins.”
“I love you more.”
After we separate, I find Melina so I can congratulate her on her engagement while avoiding Natalia so I don’t have to tell her where I’m going. My mom might give me some space, but there’s no way I’ll get past Natalia without her giving me the third degree. And the last thing I need is for her to know I’m going to Shane’s house.
She’ll make more out of it than it is, refusing to understand that I’m not going there to see Shane—he just so happens to be Taylor’s dad. I’m going there to see Taylor and to check out her library and talk books. And Shane will just so happen to be there.
Now if only I can repeat that in my head enough times so that I’ll believe it.
TEN
Shane
If someone had told me that Taylor’s and my weekly walk to the dog park would end with Kinsley in my house, chatting with my daughter about books while I cook dinner for the three of us, I would’ve laughed in their face and asked them what the hell they were smoking because there was no way Kinsley would go anywhere with me, let alone to my house.