Breaking the Ice

Chapter 18

18

By five o’clock Samantha was prepared to lose face over the diet thing. After nibbling on plain crackers and one apple, she was starving . It was just a short detour from their destination to Martha’s and luckily it was open till eight every night. All she could think about, apart from people’s stunned looks as they saw her choice of jewelry, was a friand.

She continued on as Nick turned left in the direction of the convention center. They’d agreed to walk there yesterday and get an Uber back to the shop with their goodies after.

“You’re going the wrong way,” he said as he caught her up and halted her progress.

“Look, okay, I give in. I suck at diets and I need to eat.”

“No, no.” He shook his head as he caught her hand and dragged her in his direction.

“It’s just a block away,” she protested, looking back over her shoulder at Martha’s fancy calligraphy sign she could just see from this corner. “And if I don’t eat something now I’m going to become completely irrational.”

He blinked. “Oh I’m sorry, I thought we were already there.”

“Not by a long shot.”

“Can’t wait for that then,” he said, continuing to bustle her along. “We’ve only got twenty minutes to get there. They shut the doors to newcomers at five-thirty. It’s huge, there’s bound to be something to eat there.”

Samantha sulked the entire way, her stomach protesting every step. By the time the convention center came into view and they’d dashed up the sweeping concrete stairs to the entrance like Rocky freaking Balboa, she was almost delirious.

Had she not been suffering from severe hypoglycemia, she would have punched the air a few times. Not even the sight of row upon row of trestle tables groaning with second-hand books revived her.

Then, to add insult to injury, all the food stalls at the Book Fair had packed up for the day and she very nearly cried. On top of her meager nutritional intake she’d also completed a brisk thirty-minute walk.

So this was what it felt like to wander in the desert for forty days.

“Right.” Nick glanced at his watch. “We’ve got two hours till it closes. You concentrate on the romances and I’ll look for the Westerns but if you happen to spot any grab them.”

Samantha’s stomach growled, reminding her, in case she’d forgotten in the last ten seconds, of its depleted status. Two hours . She was never going to last two hours. It growled loudly again to underline the situation.

She placed her hand over her stomach to try and absorb some of the noise as Nick quirked an eyebrow. “I told you I was hungry,” she muttered.

“Sam, please… just help me out here for a couple of hours and I’ll get you whatever you want to eat on the way home.”

And didn’t all the possibilities of that boggle the mind…

The Book Fair was the annual premier fundraising event for a major charity. Unwanted books were donated from all round Tetworth and its surrounding districts and then resold at the fair. It was a book lover’s paradise and a bookshop owner’s nirvana. It had been the highlight of Birdie’s year and Samantha knew Nick had been looking forward to it since he’d opened.

Hundreds of people combed through the books, their chatter reverberating around the spacious pavilion, intertwining with the musty aroma of old books prevalent despite the airy proportions. Samantha inhaled and forgot temporarily about her empty stomach.

In fact, despite its desperate gurgling, Samantha quickly forgot about her stomach altogether as the magic of the books weaved their spell. The variety was divine and she made a number of special finds. It also had, she realized after about ten minutes, great potential as a pick-up joint.

Most of the men in the pavilion seemed to fit her required demographic nicely. Hadn’t Nick said if she stopped looking she’d find someone? She’d never thought in a million years when she agreed to accompany him tonight that this could be the place she might meet a guy who could silence her eggs once and for all.

A man beside her reached for the same Larry and Stretch . She stopped and withdrew her hand and so did he and they laughed.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his voice deep and carrying a hint of laughter. There was some gray in the wings of his hair and he looked about forty.

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Wow!” He eyed her jewelry. “Cool necklace.”

Samantha laughed as her fingers absently stroked the pasta. He seemed so utterly genuine and the necklace was so far from cool it was practically on fire. She’d had zero intention of wearing it to the Book Fair this morning but after her verbal sparring with Nick, wild horses couldn’t have dragged it off her.

“Kinda scary in an arty way.”

Samantha laughed again, struck by how nice he was and she stopped to chat. “So, who’s the Larry and Stretch fan?” he asked.

She smiled. “Me, actually.”

He tilted his head. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t fit the typical demographic.”

No, but you fit mine. “And what would that be?” She shot him her widest smile and noticed a spark of interest light his eyes.

“Oh, you know. Male.”

A laugh tinkled from her throat and she absently toyed with the necklace. “Maybe there’s just a frustrated cowboy in all of us?”

His gaze turned extra flirty. “Maybe there is.”

“Actually, I work at a second-hand bookshop; my boss introduced Westerns a couple of months ago.”

“Are they popular?”

“With him and me, yes. The clientele… not really.”

“So that explains what a gorgeous woman like you is doing among a bunch of old books.”

Samantha smiled to hide her inner consternation – why wasn’t she feeling anything? He was perfect in every way. His teeth were a normal color, he laughed at her jokes, he was obviously flirting so she presumed he was free to do so. He was reasonable to look at and dressed well, so not a starving-artist type.

Yet… nothing. Her eggs seemed equally noncommittal.

“Sam?”

She turned toward Nick and her formerly disinterested eggs leaped to life. Of course . “Oh, hey, Nick,” she said, trying to settle the riot in her ovaries.

He was clearly annoyed for some reason and even though that should somehow have quelled all bodily celebrations it didn’t. He just looked more like the surly pirate from her dreams and her eggs knew it.

Glancing at her cart, he frowned at the paltry dozen books it contained. His was half full. Samantha felt guilty but wasn’t sure why. “Nick this is…”

“Timmy,” her companion said and stuck out his hand for Nick to shake.

Samantha blinked. Timmy? The universe had to be messing with her now. She watched as Nick’s irritation melted away and he pumped the other man’s hand with enthusiasm, merriment twinkling in his eyes.

If he dared laugh she was going to run the cart over his toe.

“I’m Samantha,” she said, recovering quickly and smiling at Timmy because she refused to have Nick witness another pick-up disaster.

So, the man had a name that was… unexpected. If that was all that was wrong with him she was doing okay.

“I’m not interrupting anything I hope?” Nick asked looking innocently at her, his damn eyes still twinkling.

Samantha clenched her teeth and shot him a go away look. “Not at all.”

He grinned but took the hint. “Only an hour to go,” he reminded her.

“Bye.” She sent him a sugary sweet smile and watched him pushing his cart away, his shoulders moving up and down suspiciously.

“Was that your boss? He looks familiar.”

Returning her attention to her companion, Samantha smiled. “A lot of people say that.” She waved a dismissive hand – she wasn’t his goddamn agent. “He’s just got one of those generic kind of faces I think.”

Samantha waited for a bolt of lightning to strike her dead. There was nothing generic about Nick. Thankfully none was forthcoming.

“I hope I didn’t get you into trouble.”

“No. Don’t be silly, T… Timmy. He’s just being an asshole.”

She tried not to stumble over his name but honestly, what kind of adult had such a juvenile name? Even if your mom did lumber you with a name that had a use-by date of five, surely, you’d shorten it or lengthen it as you got older? Somehow Tim or Timothy seemed so much more appropriate for a man nearing his middle years.

It wasn’t remotely his fault but Samantha couldn’t escape the fact she found it hard to take him seriously. “I suppose I should get back to work, though.”

“Ahh, okay. Here.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card. “I’d like to take you out to dinner some time? Give me a call if you’re interested.”

Samantha was about to refuse but then she saw Nick across the room watching her with an amused smirk on his face and she smiled and took it. “Thanks, T… er, I’ll think about it.”

Her stomach growled as Timmy moved away both in hunger and what she suspected was judgment. Great . Not only had Nick been responsible for her ludicrous diet today but he’d just goaded her into lying to a perfectly decent man and giving him false hope.

She and her eggs were going to fry in hell.