Page 115 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

“You’re not?”

“No, I don’t think I am. I know my grandfather would approve of my choice.” I sighed. “It’s the least I can do for Lily after what happened. Besides, I still have the letter.”

“You love her, don’t you?” There was no question in Jess’s statement. She knew my heart belonged to Lily.

“Yeah. If I could get her alone for a few minutes, maybe I could get her to understand why we pretended to be engaged.”

“It’ll work out,” Jess said, serenely.

“You sound so sure. Why?”

“You two just have that kind of love. I believe it’ll work out in the end.” Jess had a gleam in her eyes. One I recognized by the number of times she’d gotten us into trouble as kids.

“What are you planning?” I narrowed my gaze on her.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” She batted her long lashes at me, which didn’t allay my suspicions one bit.

“Jess—” I warned.

“Oh, look, we’re here.” Jess said, completely sidestepping my question.

I looked at Alden to see if he’d give me a clue.

He shrugged.

We pulled up in front of a quaint-looking bookstore. There were small tables outside where you could sit and read, a brick facade, and a large sign above the door with the shop’s name.

“Tell me why we’re stopping at this store before we go see Nivens?” I asked Jess. I wanted to hand off the book to Nivens, then go to my penthouse in Providence and hibernate there without interruption. This stop seemed unnecessary when I had something so important to do.

“Because your saintly house manager has been wanting this book in hardback for months. This was the only bookstore that was able to get it for her.” Jess barely glanced at me, her attention back to her phone.

I shook my head.

Jess’s phone rang. “Hey Jax. I need to get this call. Can you run in and grab the book without me? I think it’s a potential sponsor, and you know how long that conversation could take.”

Her phone rang again.

I hesitated.

“Come on, Jax. It’ll only take you a second,” she tapped her foot, staring at me expectantly.

“Fine.” I slid out of the car.

I stood on the sidewalk, drawing in a deep breath, before I pushed open the door to go inside. The store was warm and cozy. A book lover’s tiny piece of paradise. This looked like a place that Lily would gravitate toward.

I rubbed my hand over my eyes. Damn, I missed her.

There were only three people ahead of me as I waited my turn at the counter. Thankfully no one tried to engage me in conversation. I’m sure my sour expression encouraged them to look away.

“Hello.” I grunted, barely looking at the woman behind the counter.

“Hi,” she answered, and paused so long I finally looked up.

Her brown eyes regarded me seriously. For a second, I almost asked if we’d met. “I’m here to pick up a book for Angela Ketill.”

“Yes, I know.” Her tone was full of disapproval.

What the fuck was this about? “Is there a problem?”