Page 233 of Safe With You
“I can’t tonight, Bug.”
Her shoulders dropped.
“But another time?”
“Promise?”
I smiled. “Promise.”
That seemed to satisfy her.
She hopped down from the stage.
Ellis watched her head toward the children’s section for the jacket she left there earlier.
Then he looked at me.
“You sure?”
“About dinner?”
He nodded.
“I still have to close.”
“We can wait.”
The offer was immediate.
Of course it was.
I smiled.
“If I let you keep helping me close this bookstore, I’m going to have to put you on payroll.”
“How much?”
“Not enough.”
“Benefits?”
“You get to be around books.”
“I don’t read enough for that to work on me.”
“You get to be around me.”
His eyebrows lifted.
The words registered about half a second too late.
I closed my eyes.
Ellis laughed.
“That sounded like a benefit to me.”
“I walked directly into that.”
