Page 15 of Read Me, Baby
“Four?”
“Four people who know I like to read. Unless she’s told others and sworn them to secrecy.”
“Something tells me there are no secrets in Magnolia Point.”
I shrug. “I know a couple.”
She eyes me. “I bet I do too.”
I eye her for a moment, Wes and Maverick’s words replay in my mind. I’ve got to go all in. “Okay know-it-all, do you know how many shots are in the margaritas at Just In Queso?”
Imagine my surprise when she says, “Let's go find out.”
CHAPTER 11
NINA
Innocence laced with charm and desire.
Those are the words I'm looking for when describing Jay.
He’s a fun-loving guy, sweet to all, but he still exudes an overtly masculine charm that draws women to him. He’s a golden retriever book boyfriend if there ever was one in real life.
I’m finding it hard to resist him, and I definitely couldn’t resist the lead-in he left wide open about asking me out. Again. Twice he’s mentioned this taco joint, so I’ll let him put his actions where his mouth is.
And maybe a bit more than his mouth.
We enter Just in Queso and I feel like I’m walking in with a celebrity. We don’t make it five feet inside the restaurant before he’s approached by someone to say hello. And it legitimately takes us twelve minutes before we’re escorted to our table with people coming over thanking him for something he’s done, laughing about something his cousin did, or just talking to him about Sunday’s football game.
And each one who stops him, knows my name as well. They greet me with kindness and include me in the conversation. It’s refreshing and overwhelming all at once.
Just as we’re about to slide into our booth, Jay pulls me to a stop at the table next to us.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” Jay asks as the man at the table stands. They clap hands, pulling each other in for a quick hug, and then Jay leans down and gives the woman a quick kiss on the cheek.
“She was dying for a margarita, so here we are.”
“Me?” the woman in question asks. “You were the one crying that you hadn’t had good tequila in a month and begged me to drive you here.”
The man reaches across the table and takes her hand, and the look he gives her is complete adoration. It’s the sweetest thing and catches me off guard.
What is with the men around here?
Jay pulls me close, putting his hand on my lower back and it feels like I was just touched by a live wire. “This is Nina, she’s the new librarian here in town. Nina, this is Maddox and Marigold. Maddox and I played ball together as kids, and Marigold just opened up Cakeology. It's an amazing bakery in the next town over.”
“Yea, opened for the second time.” Marigold says and Maddox waves her off, and Jay laughs.
“How's the air conditioning running?”
“Perfect! Thanks to your contacts. I’m glad someone—” she pauses, directing a stern look at Maddox before continuing, “knows how to run the correct wiring.”
Jay leans down and says quietly, “Her shop’s faulty wiring kept setting off the fire alarm. Maddox works for the Fire Department and he couldn’t figure out how to fix it, and it ended up burning down.”
“That’s terrible,” I exclaim.
“It wasn’t ideal,” Marigold laughs, brushing away my concern. “But the place needed a makeover anyway, and Jay was a lifesaver recommending a great electrician and handling the new AC unit.”
Jay shrugs off the praise but the gratitude from Maddox and Marigold is obvious in the way they look at him.