Page 42 of Will Bark for Pizza (Bluebell Springs #1)

THIRTY-ONE

BECKETT

“I knew there were a lot of boxes up here, but holy hell, I had no idea there were this many.”

Kira pressed her fingers into both temples as we stood at the entrance to the upstairs apartment.

Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her arms were covered in dust, and she wore a bedazzled #TeamMateo T-shirt one of the book club members gifted her yesterday.

She looked ready to tackle anything, but the bags under her eyes suggested she didn’t sleep much last night.

“These are all books?” I asked.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

“I’ll get them moved downstairs,” I said, reaching for my phone and shooting both Luke and Connor a text to see if they were free to stop over to help, promising some of the lunch I brought the army of helpers currently downstairs doing inventory.

“Don’t you have a job?” The twinkle in her Colorado blue sky eyes suggested teasing, but the warm smile spread across her lips showed gratitude.

“I’m on my lunch break.”

“Long lunch break,” Kira pointed out, opening a box and pulling out a paperback to examine it.

I’d been at Brenda’s Book Nook for almost two hours. Long enough for the group to decide the name of the store would stay the same, no matter how many changes they decided to make inside. It sounded like a lot to undo all of Margene’s unpopular improvements.

“My boss is pretty lenient.”

“Sounds like a good boss,” she said, flipping to the copyright page. Her carefree smile fell into a frown.

“What?”

“This new book is four years old. It’s been upstairs since Mom died.” Kira gripped the book so tightly her knuckles turned white. It seemed as though she were fighting the impulse to rip the book in two.

I was fighting the impulse to gather her into my arms.

As much as I wanted to comfort her, I knew where that would lead.

It was a fucking miracle we didn’t end up making out the other night before Nana interrupted us.

Or more. How many times had I caught Kira staring at my lips—wetting her own in invitation—since the book club meeting just yesterday afternoon?

“Fucking Margene.”

That seemed to be the new mantra around here. I didn’t fully understand the mess that woman left in her greedy wake, but I understood enough. I made a mental note to chat with Nana about a PI again before she left. If she didn’t know one, I had other military buddies who might.

“You okay?” I asked, tucking my hands into my pockets so they behaved.

“Yeah. It’s just . . . overwhelming.”

“Understandable.”

“Mom never kept books up here.”

“No?”

“Not books for the store. Just ARCs.”

“What are ARCs?”

“Advance reader copies, for books that hadn’t come out yet.

Publishers sent them in hopes Mom or anyone else working at the bookstore would read them.

Then, when the books did release, they could talk about them to customers,” Kira explained.

“Getting to read my most anticipated books early was one of my favorite things about this store. It felt like I was part of a secret club.”

I scanned the room, counting at least a dozen stacks of boxes.

“These can’t all be ARCs?”

“No. These appear to be boxes of books for the store that never got unpacked.” She moved about the room, weaving her way through the stacks, and searching labels for clues. “I just don’t get it. Someone had to carry these up here.”

Considering the back room downstairs was also full of similar boxes, my best guess was that someone moved the oldest boxes upstairs to make room for the new.

“I just can’t fathom why Margene would hide boxes of books instead of putting them out to sell.” Kira shook her head. “If she was so hell-bent on stealing from Mom’s store, you think she’d want it to make the most money possible.”

I followed her toward the back of the room, to the window that overlooked the street.

It was dusty, and the blinds had seen better days.

But the lone window let in a fair amount of light.

Light that revealed a heavy layer of dust on almost every surface.

Except one random rectangle on the floor.

One large enough for a sleeping bag and a dog.

Fuck, she really did sleep up here that first night.

It felt like months since I jumped into Ghost Lake to rescue Kira.

Luke and Connor have talked about her for years. That’s why it feels longer.

“What did your mom use this space for?”

“Relaxing,” Kira said, a smile forming once again. I felt the heaviest of her tension uncoil. “She came up here to read a book or take a nap, or to brainstorm her next display. Mom loved creating displays.”

“What will you use it for?”

Kira turned a slow circle, her gaze scanning the area. “I always thought it’d make a cute studio apartment.”

“You want to live up here?”

She shook her head. “Not anymore. Husker’s spent enough time cooped up in an apartment. And this one doesn’t even have a balcony. But it might make a cute writing loft. You know, for someone who’s actually writing books.”

I had no conscious memory of stepping close to Kira, only the knowledge that I was now near enough to touch her elbow. The gentle contact felt more like grabbing an electric fence, but I held on despite the strong current. “I saw you making notes.”

“Making notes and writing a book are two very different things.”

“Maybe.”

Her eyes sparkled at the easy challenge I offered.

It was the same spark I noticed when she scribbled her first note during the book club meeting yesterday—the first of at least half a dozen.

I felt certain Kira had another book in her.

Hell, I suspected she had dozens more. She just needed to believe it, too.

“How would you decorate it?” I asked.

“It needs bookshelves,” she said thoughtfully.

“Built-ins across that long wall.” She motioned to the wall opposite the bathroom and kitchenette.

“Some to the ceiling. Some just halfway so there’s surface space.

I’d put a big, fluffy couch over there. One with an ottoman big enough for Husker to sleep on if he wanted.

And a big, L-shaped desk over there with a whiteboard above it. Oh, and string lights.”

“Lights?”

“Yeah, like white Christmas lights. All along the ceiling, like a cozy border. But unlike the ones downstairs, these would actually work.”

“I can fix this space up,” I offered.

“It’s not exactly a top priority,” she said, sighing. She turned her attention to a box beside her, and opened it. “Or a priority at all. It may not be in my budget for a while.”

“At the very least, you deserve a fresh coat of paint and some updated flooring,” I said.

Nana would likely smack me upside the head for getting too involved, but I had no intention of making Kira pay for a single renovation or upgrade.

It might be a few weeks before the sale was final, but I had liberties as the new landlord.

“I’d do the same even if I were leasing to someone else. ”

Kira trained her gaze on me, the look suggesting she saw right through my lie, but wasn’t calling me out for it. Good thing, too, considering I had plans that exceeded a simple facelift. If the book club could open their wallets, I could too.

“We need to talk about the store space, too.”

“Everyone has great ideas,” Kira said, referring to the gaggle of book club members who were ready and willing to invest in the bookstore. “But a lot of those ideas add up.”

“It’s a good thing you know a general contractor who won’t charge you an arm and leg.”

Kira set down the latest book she fished out of a box near the kitchenette, and looked at me. “Why are you doing this, Beck?”

“Doing what?”

“Going out of your way—” Kira froze, her eyes widening with panic. I followed her unmoving gaze over my shoulder to the stack of boxes behind me, discovering a large wolf spider perched on top.

“Guess I should add an exterminator to the to-do list.” Kira didn’t break a smile or eye contact with the critter. “Why don’t you head downstairs?”

“And leave you with Charlie?”

“You two know each other?”

“This isn’t funny.”

I didn’t bother hiding my smile as I slowly turned, shuffling away from the spider so I could make a plan to remove it without startling it back into hiding.

“It’s a little funny.”

“Stop laughing.” Kira smacked my arm with the back of her hand. “It’s not— ahhh! ”

She jumped me.

One second Kira was standing beside me, her fearful gaze locked on the spider. The next, her body was wrapped around me like a pretzel.

Her arms had a death grip around my neck.

Her thighs gripped my hips like a vise, awakening everything below my belt.

I was too distracted by the floral scent of her shampoo to think straight.

To fight the impulses taking over. Fuck, I couldn’t think about anything other than the way her body was suctioned to mine.

How it might feel if we were to shed all these fucking annoying layers?—

“Is she gone?” Kira whispered against my neck.

“She?”

“Female spiders kill off their man after they mate with him. I’m pretty sure it’s a she spider.”

“You’re thinking of a praying mantis.”

“Stop laughing,” she said, gently pounding her fist into my back as I held her to me.

I selfishly didn’t want to put her down.

There was nothing just friends about the chemistry crackling between us, or the way her body perfectly and warmly fit against mine like two perfectly shaped puzzle pieces.

“And it’s true. Some female spiders actually eat their mates once they’re done with them. ”

“How do you know this?”

She pulled her face from the crook of my neck. Several strands of her ponytail got caught in my beard, and she pulled them free. Those fiery fingertips left a blazing trail in their gentle wake.

“Book research.”

I could put her down.

I should put her down.

But then I’d have to admit the spider disappeared into the shadows after she screamed. At least, that was the excuse I clung to.

“Do your heroes always save the day?”

“Only when it comes to spiders,” she said, one corner of her mouth tipping up. Fuck, I wanted to press my lips to that spot. To trace my tongue along the seam of her mouth until she opened for me. Would she taste like frosting? Or caramel iced coffee? “My heroines don’t need a man.”

“But you write romance?” I asked, confused.

I fought to keep a blank expression, as she slowly peeled herself from my body.

As she lowered her legs, my hand accidentally grazed her ass, and I sucked in a breath.

It took every ounce of restraint I had not to grip her hips and yank her back against me.

But that would be a point of no return. I was barely hiding how badly I wanted her beneath my zipper. If I pressed her into me now?—

“Beckett?”

I turned away to adjust myself. “Yeah?”

“Where’s Charlie?”

“Good question.”

She leaned into me, her hand gripping my arm, her floral scent— lilac?— invading my senses as her fingers curled, fingernails pressing through the cotton of my sleeve .

“You lost Charlie?”

“I still don’t understand why you named a spider.”

“It’s not her fault she’s a spider,” she answered, as if that cleared it up.

“Why don’t you go downstairs?” I suggested, nodding toward the open door. “I’ll handle the boxes.”

“Are you going to carry me to the other side of the room?” She scanned the room diligently, no doubt searching for her nemesis.

“Is this your favor?”

“What?”

“The favor you won playing darts.”

“I’m not using an open-ended favor to cross a room. Even a spider-infested one.”

She started to walk away, but I caught her by the wrist and yanked her back to me. I scooped her into my arms, enjoying the way her laughter vibrated against my chest.

We made it halfway across the room before I heard the heavy footsteps on the stairs. I couldn’t make out what the man was saying, but I wasn’t the only one who recognized the grumpy baritone.

Kira scrambled out of my arms, her feet touching the floor three seconds before Luke and Connor appeared in the apartment.

“Wow, what a fucking mess,” Connor said, scrubbing a hand through his shaggy hair.

“What are you guys doing here?” Kira asked, her voice raspy, as though we were nearly caught with our pants down instead of just horsing around.

“We were summoned,” Luke said, nodding to me.

“Hey, some woman in a sparkly dress is downstairs,” Connor said to Kira. “Says she’s your assistant? ”

“Lila!” Kira gushed, running for the door without a backward glance.

My shoulders tensed as I waited for Luke to chew my ass out. Did either of Kira’s brothers catch me carrying her across the room? The door was open, which in retrospect, was probably better. Implied we had nothing to hide.

“All these need to go downstairs?” Luke asked, surveying the towers of boxes with what I could only describe as contempt.

“Yeah.”

Luke hefted three and headed back downstairs, Connor following his example.

The tension uncoiled from my shoulders, but barely. I shouldn’t feel relieved because Kira’s brothers didn’t catch us in a position we had to explain. I wasn’t that fucking guy. If I needed that reminder, this was it.

I could help her and keep my distance. It was what I had to do. But how? I had no fucking clue. Because with each passing day, I was falling a little harder for Red. One of these days, if I wasn’t careful, I might reach that point of no return.

Hell, it was entirely possible I already had.