Page 63 of Twice as Tempting

“What happened?” Irene asked.

“I married him, and now we have two beautiful children.”

A few women clapped, and more than a few teared up. Kelly started to wonder if the meeting was becoming too personal, but then she realized that none of the women seemed to mind. Everyone in the room had experienced love in some form or another, and they related to one another no matter their age or status.

“Why do we read romance novels, and why do we love them so much?” Kelly asked, scanning the room.

“Because they make us feel things,” Jenna ventured.

“You can say that again,” shouted Irene while she fanned her face with the book.

When the round of chuckles died down, Nikki’s hand went up. “Because they give us hope,” she said. “And they remind us that there is a special someone out there for each of us.” Rosa smiled proudly at her boss, and there were murmurs of agreement among the group.

Damian’s face flashed through Kelly’s mind, and the image was so clear, so vivid, that it was almost as if he were standing right before her. The room went silent, and that’s when Kelly realized that he actually was standing there, leaning against a bookshelf just a few feet away, watching her.

Kelly quickly collected herself and said, “Well, ladies, I think we’ve exceeded our time limit, but I’d like to thank you all very much for coming. If you’d like to vote on the book for next month’s meeting, please send me an email. I’ll contact everyone once the selection has been made, and I’ll let you know when the next meeting will be.”

As the women rose and shuffled toward the door, they all glanced at Damian as they passed by. Mrs. Simmons even stopped, laid her bony hand on his arm, and whispered something in his ear, to which he smiled and nodded.

After the last person left, Kelly and Emma began cleaning up, and Damian pitched in by stacking up the folding chairs. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting, but it was after nine, and Zack started to panic. He asked me to come and check on you two.”

Emma giggled. “That sounds like him. Has he always been this overprotective?”

“Pretty much. Especially when we were kids, but then I got bigger than him, and he didn’t need to protect me anymore.”

Kelly shot an appreciative glance at Damian’s muscled physique, but then she wondered about his heart. Who’s protecting that?

“I better get home before he calls the police,” Emma teased. “Can you two finish closing up?”

“Sure. We got this,” Damian said.

Kelly walked Emma to the door. “You did a great job tonight,” Emma said.

“You really think so?”

“Yes. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and you kept the discussion moving.”

“I was surprised when some of the women shared their personal stories,” Kelly said, and she glanced back at Damian, who was taking down the snack table.

“Everyone has their own love story, although some are still being written,” Emma said, and then she pulled her friend in for a goodbye hug.

“See you tomorrow,” Kelly said and then locked the door behind her. When Kelly turned around, she didn’t see Damian’s head over the bookshelves, so she went toward the back of the store to investigate. She found him sitting in one of the beanbag chairs in the children’s section, with the book club romance novel open in his hands. His eyes were glued to the page, and he didn’t even look up when she came and stood before him.

“Holy shit! This book is hot!” he said, flipping to the next page.

Kelly giggled. “I wouldn’t peg you for a romance reader,” she teased.

Damian put his thumb in the book to keep his place and peered up at her. “Why not?”

“Well, because you’re not really the mushy, gushy type.”

“From what I’ve read so far, neither is this guy, but that’s not stopping him from getting lucky!”

Kelly put her hands on her hips and cocked her head at him. “You’ve only read a few pages. There’s a lot more to the story besides that.”

“Oh,” he said, looking disappointed.

Kelly shook her head and started to take the book away from him, but he clasped her wrist in his tight grip. “You don’t think I can be romantic?” he asked, a hint of challenge in his voice.