you know,” I refute and stand up from the bench, swinging my bag over my shoulder with purpose. “Right now, I’m going across the street to the bookstore.”
She stares at me pointedly. “To get the book you need to study for recording?”
“No,” I deny, my face a mixture of glee and nana-nana-boo-boo.
“Research on your craft, then.”
I scowl. “There’s nothing wrong with research!”
“No, you’re right. But even reading has become something you don’t do for pleasure.”
“Hey! I enjoy—”
“I know you enjoy reading.” She cuts me off with a hand toward my face. “But you’re still doing it with a purpose. What do you do, just for the hell of it, with no other benefits at all?”
I give her the stink eye as I pet little Rosie goodbye. “I come to the dog park.”
“Exactly my point.” She smirks. “Just think about what I’m saying, Ruby. It might do you some good to let go a little bit. Have some fun.”
“I had a whole spa day just this morning.”
She eyes me skeptically and then surveys my obviously groomed features for evidence. And I know it’s there.
“Wow. Okay. That’s a good start. I’m glad you actually did something for yourself today.”
I prance a little on my feet.
You only did it because Cap made you. Really, the credit should go to him.
Annoyed at my thoughts, I decide it’s time to head to the bookstore. I lean in to give Julie a kiss goodbye on the cheek, pet Rosie one final time, and then head across the street to Hilda’s Books.
It’s a quaint little shop with a limited selection, but I’ve found some real treasures over the last three years of shopping here.
The books are usually well-loved and overread, and you can practically feel the lives they’ve touched all over the pages.
I drag my fingers along the shelves, feeling the spines as though they can reach out and grab me back. And I climb through crowded stacks and around and into the back where Hilda keeps the historical romances.
A knight or a duke or a highlander is just what the literary doctor orders every once in a while.
I grab a particularly thick Regency romance off the shelf and start scanning the pages.
I smile to myself as I catch a couple sassy lines from the heroine, but suddenly, the hair stands up on the back of my neck.
I turn around quickly, expecting to find someone behind me, but the aisle is completely empty.
That’s weird.
I draw in my eyebrows, and I spend almost a full minute glancing at the shelves around me, waiting for someone to pop up.
If my mom knew about this, she’d be talking the metro PD into launching a full-fledged investigation.
I make a pact with myself to make sure I never mention it. Lord knows, Connie already has enough paranoia on her plate to last a freaking lifetime.
Finally, I look back down to my book, but before I can fall too deeply into it again, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
My stomach flips, and then I grimace.
Oh God. Did I really just get excited at the prospect of Cap bothering me again?
I obviously let Julie get too far inside my head.
In an effort to minimize how disgusted I can get with myself in one sitting, I leave the phone in my pocket. If they really need me, they’ll message again.
I’m only two pages farther when it buzzes again.
With a heavy sigh and a quick mental pep talk, I take the phone out of my pocket, close my eyes, and then peek one just barely open to see the name on the screen.
I’m surprised to find it say Kevin, so I click open the messages to see what he has to say.
Kevin: Julie says she saw you at the park.
I smile a little at the simplicity of his message. And here I was worried about what it might say—
Kevin: She says you’re boning your boss. So, I guess you figured out the dynamics.
WHAT THE HELL?
Me: What?! I’m not boning him! He’s not boning me! No one is boning.
Kevin: Oh, come on, someone is boning. Even if it’s not you. And, hey, maybe she just said you should bone. I’m not sure.
For some reason, I’m so flustered, I speak out loud as I type. “Just because I would enjoy boning Caplin Hawkins doesn’t mean I should. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s the last thing I should do in my life.”
I nod just once, a punctuation mark at the end of my statement, and hit send on