Page 7 of Read Me, Baby
I shake my head at him, and he digs around the cooler for another beer, pulling one out for me and handing it to me as I reply, “Let me park up here on the sandbar and we can hang here for the day.”
As I get close to the shoreline I see someone waving to us. “Yo, who’s that?” I ask with a nod toward the beach and both guys turn their heads to gawk.
“It’s Hazel,” Wes says happily.
“Who’s that chick with her?”
“Dibs!” Maverick interrupts loudly.
I narrow my eyes trying to see who it is from afar. She’s got long hair up in a ponytail that seems to glow with red highlights, sunglasses and a one-piece suit on. Hazel on the other hand is in a barely there two piece and the difference in appearance makes me sit up and take notice of this girl.
“No fucking way,” I growl quietly.
“What? You know her?”
“No,” I say firmly. “But you don’t have dibs. I do.”
I hear Maverick’s voice but I couldn’t tell you what he said. Just the sight of her is like an instant hit of tequila to my bloodstream, and I’m suddenly drunk over this girl already. With just one glance her way, I can already tell there’s something special about her.
I’m sure I’ve read that in a book somewhere, and though I always believe it could happen, it’s never happened to me.
Until now.
Who is she?
CHAPTER 7
NINA
Laying in the sun should be the most calming thing for me right now. But all that replays in my head is my walk through the library with Mrs. Holly.
“Hazel, they want me to read out loud!”
“Oh, is this for the National Read a Book Day? I know that’s a big event here.”
I narrow my eyes and reply anxiously, “Mrs. Holly mentioned that right off. What is it?”
Hazel waves her hand dismissively. “Just a local event. The town loves it.”
“Great,” I mutter. “Just one more thing I have to get in front of a crowd to do. She also told me more about the book club, that it’s a weekly thing for members of the library. And it’s all romance novels! Do you know what the name of that room is?”
Hazel’s eyes twinkle mischievously, her voice dropping an octave as she says seductively, “the Read Me, Baby room.”
She laughs and I shake my head as I huff, “It’s ridiculous and it’s not what I signed up for.”
“It’s not ridiculous. This town thrives on love and happily ever after, so it only makes sense that the library is the place to be for all of those stories. And you did sign up for this when you took the job.”
“But she didn’t disclose all the minor details!”
“What did you do at your old job?” she asks dryly. “You know, the one with the books. Wasn’t reading part of it?”
“Yes, smarty pants, but it was for little kids. It was the preschool romper room, and they didn’t care how many dates I had,” I say dramatically, throwing my hand over my eyes for added effect. “They didn’t care that I had glasses or that most of the time I was ignored by dates.”
“Is that what this is about?”
She pulls my hand from my eyes, forcing me to look at her as I say, “That and the fact that my one and only serious boyfriend made a mockery of me.”
Waving her hand in the air, she says bitterly, “He was an ass and dumb as dirt. It was actually surprising that he even knew what a book was. You planned to start your own club anyway, so what’s the problem now?”