Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22788 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22788 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Caleb glared at his friend. “You’re fired.”
“You can’t fire me, I’m part owner.”
“Fuck off,” Caleb said.
They had gone into this business together. Both of them having a love of ink, and also wanting to be a safe and reliable place for people to come, from far and wide, to get some ink.
There had been a time where Caleb wanted to venture into the big city, but Pete had stayed at Halloween Point and married his childhood sweetheart, Emily. Emily also happened to be Mae’s best friend.
“Is Emily over there right now?” Caleb asked. He hadn’t paid attention to who entered the store.
Pete laughed and pulled out his cell phone. “Yep, my wife is. They’re enjoying a cup of coffee, as Mae opens up the shop before heading to work.”
Emily worked at the bakery. It was one of the reasons Mae had expanded her bookstore to include a coffee shop service, as well as offering small treats. They were the closest of friends.
He and Pete were just a few years older than Mae and Emily, but he remembered her. Mae had been a bookworm, and Emily had been into heavy metal, dying her hair black and wearing lots of band t-shirts. They were like chalk and cheese, and yet they had somehow made a friendship that lasted a long time.
Caleb couldn’t believe he was doing this, but he wanted to know more. He wanted all the details of what Emily was getting out of Mae.
“Ask her what they’re talking about,” Caleb said. He had another hour before his first client.
“Dude, seriously? You want me to ask my wife about her friend?”
“I want you to ask her what they’re talking about.”
Pete looked at him, and then shook his head. “So, Mae is more than just an easy fuck?”
“Don’t call her that,” Caleb said.
“It’s what you call all the others.”
“Look, it has been a long time since I’ve been with anyone else, okay.” He didn’t like to admit it, but for a long time, he’d been into Mae. In fact, back at high school, he had found her so adorable. The way she had to keep pushing her glasses up her nose, and she constantly had her head in a book. He figured it was because her grandfather owned the bookstore.
She never hung out with guys. It was always Mae and Emily. She’d been Emily’s maid of honor at the wedding, and he had to dance with her, and it had been amazing.
He’d tried to put every feeling he had for Mae at the back of his mind, but that had been next to impossible. She was everywhere, and he didn’t want to ever stop thinking about her.
And now, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
Chapter Two
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Emily asked.
“Nothing. It was a brief moment of insanity, and it meant nothing.”
“He followed you into your bookstore, pursued you until you were cornered, and then proceeded to kiss you until you couldn’t think straight or even know your own name?” Emily asked.
Mae glared at her friend. “Stop it,” she whispered and looked around to see if anyone was paying them any attention, which they weren’t.
She scored the top of a box from the delivery, and looked in at the titles she had ordered from the recent releases. Mae always kept a display for weekly best-selling releases. From time to time, she’d have to change every title. More often than not, several titles would remain, and she’d have to change one or two. They were on the bestseller lists.
“Come on, you’ve got to admit this is exciting. Caleb is into you.”
“No, he’s not.”
Emily let out a frustrated growl. “That guy never allows a woman to sleep over. Not only did you stay the night because you had to sneak out the next morning, but he pursued you. You can ask a lot of women in this town. Caleb Dowd never pursues a woman.” There was a beep, and Emily glanced down at her watch. “That’s me, and I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”
Her friend laughed. “Oh, and before I leave, you might want to know that Caleb wants to know what we’re talking about right now.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“My husband is co-owner of their tattoo parlor, and he texted me. Caleb is going out of his mind wondering what you’re talking about. He wants to know if you’re talking about him.”
Mae got to her feet and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “What did you tell him?”
Emily smirked. “That it’s time for the two of us to start playing matchmaker.” Her friend winked at her, and then turned on her heel to leave.
Mae continued to hold a couple of books. At first, she didn’t know what to do. Everyone in town knew what a bad boy Caleb was. He was not known as the settling-down type.