Page 55 of Once Upon a Lie

“Probably shouldn’t press my statistical luck by ever trying it again,” I hedge, making Teeny blush.

She holds up both her hands like she’s in the middle of a shoot-out. “I swear Sunnie and Cher can be normal people. Sometimes. But most of the time, they’re too nosy for their own good.”

“Oh, we’re definitely nosy as hell,” Sunnie agrees on a giggle as she finishes making some kind of fancy coffee drink. “But in this case, we’re just very grateful our boss didn’t die.”

“And,” Cher adds, eyes flicking to me, “that she lives in the same building as a man with excellent reflexes and questionable self-preservation instincts. Are you always so . . . spontaneous and impulsive and superhero-y, Shane?”

I grin, completely amused by the banter.

“You’re allowed to ignore them at any time,” Valentina comments, briefly looking over at me on a half sigh and half laugh as she starts to take the next customer’s order.

“I don’t know, Teeny,” I say lightly. “So far, this conversation is painting me in a very complimentary light. I’m quite enjoying it.”

Teeny rolls her eyes and snorts. “Of course you are.”

As Sunnie and Cher dive back into making orders, I lean on the counter, lowering my voice just for Teeny. “So,” I whisper, “be honest. Do you call me Smokin’ Hot Shane when I’m not around?”

She snorts. “Absolutely not.”

I grin. “Well, just so you know, I wouldn’t mind.”

She rolls her eyes, but she also laughs as she rings up the customer’s order.

She looks lighter this morning, like the shock’s worn off and the adrenaline’s been replaced by endorphins. Watching her joke with her employees, teasing and kind in equal measure, I get it now—why people seem to love her. Why Alfred shows up every day. Why this place always has a line.

It’s not the bagels or lattes or books.

It’s her.

She makes a point to formally introduce me to Sunnie and Cher—even though I clearly know who they are and they me—before handing me a cup of free coffee and getting back to work on getting through the rest of her line of customers.

I loiter, happy to exist in her space for a little while without a rush or the pressure to make her notice me. I drift toward the rows of bookshelves that run perpendicular to the front counter, spying and watching her chat with familiar faces and new alike.

I thumb the spines of colorful row after row of books and read the titles to myself. It Ends with Us. Try Me. Beautiful Bastard and Player and Bombshell. Tapping, Banking, and Scoring the Billionaire.

I smile at the obvious context of romance, an overwhelming trend on many, many of the shelves, and pull one or two paperbacks out and open to peek inside, intrigued.

Books are so neatly appointed to their places on the shelf, I can tell they’ve each been treated with Valentina’s personal love and care.

This place really feels like it encompasses everything I know about her and, even better, hints at even more. Not only is she warm and inviting and kind—she’s hopeful, maybe. For a love story of her own, worthy of the paperbacks and hardbacks that fill her store.

I pull another novel free at random and glance down at the cover, which says Fourth Wing.

I flip it open, skim the first page, and then read the blurb on the back. Dragons. War college. High stakes. I have to admit, it sounds a lot cooler than I remember books being when I was forced to read them in high school.

“The morning rush finally surrendered,” Teeny says, surprising me. A grin greets me when I turn to face her, and she leans her hip against one of the shelves. Her eyes drop to the book in my hands, and she brightens instantly. “Now, that’s a good one. One of my favorites, and very popular right now. Have you read it?”

“I’m not much of a reader,” I admit, which sounds a lot nicer than Shane grunt. Shane no read.

“Well, then that settles it. You have to read it. And you don’t have to worry about it not being cool, because it has dragons in it.”

“Dragons are cool.”

“Uh-huh,” she agrees, tapping the cover of the book before leaning in close to my face. “And guess what?”

“What?” I ask in an anticipatory whisper.

“It has sex too.” She shakes her head. “I mean, come on. Sex and dragons? This is the perfect dude novel if I’ve ever heard of one.” She laughs. “Take it.”