Page 6 of With Stars in Her Eyes

Thea

I stacked the boxes on the counter and sat back on the desk stool.

My boss had moved on from the crybaby client to a long appointment with a regular, so the ambiance felt less like a horror movie.

My next appointment wasn’t for another hour, which meant plenty of time to get some photo editing done.

I had four more events over the next few months that I’d agreed to photograph as a favor for my mom, then I’d be done with making the stupidly long drive back to Huntsville for a while.

My phone buzzed.

Mom again.

I would call her back later.

So far, this job was better than the daytime piercing gig at home for so many reasons.

No creepy redneck boss telling me to smile more.

Better hours. Better pay. And Marshall was right about getting away from my family.

It felt freeing. As much as I loved my mom, the whole point of moving here was to stop falling back into old patterns. Their patterns and mine.

Granted, I hadn’t exactly explained this to my mother before moving…

Absently, I slipped the orange book club pamphlet out of my pocket, flipping the corner between my thumb and forefinger as I clicked through photo files.

“Samantha doesn’t waste time,” my boss Denise said, startling me.

“Samantha?” I blinked.

Denise handed her client some extra tattoo wraps.

Then she nodded at the counter before turning back to me where I was still using the book club flyer as a fidget.

“You weren’t even over there fifteen minutes—thank you for picking up the boxes by the way—and she’s already recruiting you to a book club. And did I hear someone scream?”

I shut my laptop slightly harder than I meant to. “There’s no way you heard it through the walls.”

“I was just kidding. Samantha texted me to make sure you were okay and apologize for traumatizing you. I wish I could have stopped by. I haven’t seen Billy Gibbons in his wings yet. How’d he look?”

“I just didn’t expect a lizard masquerading as a tyranno-bat to crawl out from behind a bookshop counter and claw his way up my arm. I thought I was hallucinating.” I tugged at my collar, feeling oddly warm thinking about the bookstore. “Not my finest moment.”

“I’m sorry you had to process it alone,” Denise said dryly.

“I wasn’t alone alone. I nearly scared the bookseller with the pixie cut off her ladder. I’m lucky I didn’t cause a workplace accident.”

“Oh… I didn’t realize Courtney was… was working there again. I saw her around, but…” Denise’s expression became unreadable.

“Again?”

“Oh… um… she’s a touring musician, but she used to stay with Samantha’s family whenever she was on break from that. They go way back. Best friends since college, I think.”

“Ah.” I had questions, but something about Denise’s expression stopped me from asking any of them.

“So, are you going to join?”

“Join what?”

“One of the book clubs.” Denise tapped a finger on the orange piece of paper.

“Oh. I don’t know. I can’t for a little while because of my weird schedule.” I read over the paper again. “I was in school a long time, and it put me off reading for fun.”

“I used to go to the nonfiction one until the boys’ ballet schedule gave me conflicts. It was great, and—” Denise opened her mouth as if she were going to say something else, but the front door opened as her next client arrived.

My focus returned to the orange paper.

One of the other patterns I was supposed to be breaking was being the too-much-too-soon girl.

I was the person who would meet a cute boy or girl and, of course, if I heard they were running a book club I would join.

Maybe we would end up going out, maybe we wouldn’t.

I would charm my way straight into the friendzone.

It always ended up the same. Texts spacing out.

Me obsessed with my phone in a way that would have made my nana say A watched pot never boils, Dorothea .

Then if things were really going well, they would break it off because I was “too sweet” rather than ghost me.

I stuck the flyer back in my bag to think about later.

Back-to-back clients filled the next few hours.

My last appointment was five minutes late, but since the clouds had ruined my plans for taking photos tonight it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to be.

When the front door opened, I nearly fell off the stool.

In walked Courtney. The computer schedule only showed last names. Starling must be Courtney’s.

Courtney Starling.

So stinking adorable it was unfair.

“You’re—”

“Super sorry I’m late. I’m your daith piercing.

I got caught up helping a customer, and— Anyway, I lost track of time.

” Courtney’s smile was a little crooked as she signed the check-in book.

Her voice had that slight rasp that made every word smokier and more sultry.

It was so unexpected coming out of someone with her big green eyes and soft features.

“Totally okay.” I handed her a clipboard. “This establishment doesn’t have any rogue reptiles, so you don’t have to fear for your safety while filling out this form at the counter.”

“Very comforting.”

Courtney’s handwriting was a barely legible scrawl. Her medication list was long, and there were a few I wasn’t familiar with, which was unusual. I typed the names into the computer to check for associated issues with bleeding or infections.

“These are all for migraines?”

Courtney nodded.

“Are the migraines why you’re getting the daith piercing?”

“Try anything at this point.”

I ushered Courtney back to my chair. “I should tell you that the research is mixed on whether this helps or not.”

Courtney nodded. Her posture was stiffer than before, but I didn’t know her well enough to guess why. Or maybe Courtney just wasn’t very talkative with strangers normally, and the bearded dragon incident had temporarily lowered her guard.

I rattled off my normal spiel about safety and care and potential issues while explaining the process. Courtney listened intently, with tiny nods before selecting the hoop I suggested.

Despite the speed of my heartbeat, my gloved hands were as gentle and steady as always. I touched the shell of Courtney’s ear, explaining the placement for the piercing.

Courtney lay down on the small, reclined chair with her focus fixed on a spot in the corner. Was she nervous? Or was eye contact a struggle for her?

“This will be a little cold,” I said before trickling disinfectant over the thin, delicate skin around the marked piercing spot, careful to avoid letting any liquid drain into the ear by using a soft application of cotton.

Courtney’s body tremored, as if a shiver had run down her spine, but her expression barely shifted. Courtney’s long, lingering exhale prickled the tiny hairs on my forearm. Her dappled green irises met mine. A barely perceptible dip of her chin seemed to murmur I trust you into the silence.

My heart’s decision to reenact the final scene of Footloose against my ribs was neither professional nor ideal for someone wielding a needle. Hopefully none of the tapping beats were audible. I blinked several times, forcing my brain back into the normal rhythm of preparation.

As my fingers hovered over Courtney’s ear, I was acutely aware of my closeness to another human’s body in a way I never was in this situation. “Do you want a one-two-three?”

“No, I’m good.” The words were less than a whisper, but the heat of her breath sent another sweep of warmth over my skin.

“Okay, so then take a deep breath in and now exhale.”

Except for a slight jaw twitch, Courtney stayed completely still. In less than a second, the hoop was in place and the sharp needle discarded into the red bin beside the chair.

“Cold again.” I cleaned the area once more. “All done.”

Courtney’s hands had been curled into fists, but they relaxed. Her cheeks were a shade paler, but her mouth was more upturned. “Thank you.”

“You okay? Dizzy?”

“I’m fine. Just really hate needles. Terrified of them.”

“You’d never know it. You barely flinched.”

“Oh, I have to deal with them a lot lately.” Courtney pointed at her head in a callback to her migraines. “But it doesn’t stop me from hating them. Thanks though. I’m glad I wasn’t too much of a baby about it.”

“Well, you can be assured that you weren’t a baby at all. Some people scream.” I patted her once on the shoulder.

Did she lean into the contact?

Her lips pressed together mischievously. “Guess it’s definitely less scary than an unexpected bearded dragon.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Not that you screamed.” That shadow of a smirk made the color return to Courtney’s face.

“Because I didn’t.” I snapped my gloves into the trash can.

“Of course not.”

“I never scream.”

Courtney studied me from beneath long lashes, her voice even raspier. “ Never? ”

Something went molten inside me. Who the fuck was this tiny, hot woman making me feel all the butterflies and blush like a baby bisexual?

Maybe it was the number of times we had said the word clitoris in the bookshop.

“So do you need to check me out?” Her pink cheeks darkened to a fire-engine red. She took several steps away and rummaged in her bag.

“Check you…”

Courtney held up her wallet.

“Oh right. Got it.”

She followed me to the register and paid as if nothing had passed between us other than stainless steel, plastic, and isopropyl alcohol. She left with an offhand wave that had me second-guessing the subtext of that entire conversation .

Maybe I had imagined the implied orgasm reference.

How much discussion of sex was normal with someone after spending only nineteen minutes with them at most?

Maybe I was just sexually frustrated after spending the last two weeks watching crappy reality television and SportsCenter with my platonic best friend.

Initiating a fling with the bookseller next door would be a disaster.

I’d break all the rules that had kept my heart so much safer the last few years.

It was exactly the kind of impulsivity my family expected too. I was here to break patterns.

But Jesus, Mary, Josephine Bonaparte , I needed an extra-large, ice-cold sweet tea and an extra-long date with my vibrator tonight.

Even though it was ten degrees outside, my skin was boiling, and if I was honest, my underwear needed to dry out.

I pulled my denim shirt sleeves down to cover the place Courtney’s breath had grazed my skin.

This would not happen. I had probably just imagined that flirting anyway.