Single And In Love With My Fake Boyfriend (Single Girls Club #1)

Chapter Nineteen

Callie

I wait for Lincoln to finish his shower before he and I will head to the bookstore. It’s within walking distance.

“How was your day?” Lincoln asks.

“Good. Watched two movies and reviewed them. Becca had me rewrite the article two times because there were many typos.” I laugh lamely. “Guess I was distracted.”

He grins. “Looks like I’m not the only one who was distracted today.”

“Yep. Guess so.”

He looks at me and I look at him. It seems as though he wants to say something, like maybe he’s trying to figure out why we were so distracted today. My excuse was that I was thinking about him. But he never actually explained why he was distracted during practice. He said it was because of me, but why ? I’m just his fake girlfriend after all.

He gestures toward the distance. “Are we ready to go?”

“After you.”

He holds out his hand, a warm smile on his face that makes him look so boyish and sexy at the same time. Returning the smile, I slip my hand in his and we make our way toward the bookstore.

Many of the surrounding people catch us, some waving, others calling our names. Lincoln and I wave with grins.

“I thought they’d be bored of me by now,” I whisper to him.

“How could they be bored of someone as interesting as you?”

I just stare at him before tucking my hair behind my ear. My stomach does this weird flip. No one has ever said that to me before.

“Thanks,” I say after a short while.

He dips his head. “Was just saying the truth.”

It’s not long before we reach the bookstore and walk inside. Lincoln’s eyes widen to the size of the sun as he takes in the many, many, many books.

“Holy…”

My smile is so large it nearly splits my face in half. “Paradise, huh?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many books in my life. And to think this place is so close to practice.”

I elbow him in the rib. “I bet you’ll fall so in love with books that you’ll come here every day.”

He chuckles. “Maybe.”

It was a joke because I’m not sure he’ll turn into a reader, but it’s nice to talk about books with him, even if it might be temporary.

“So…where do we begin?” he asks, eyebrows raised so high they practically disappear in his hairline.

“I think it might be best to figure out what genre you like based on what movies you’re into. We know you like action, so we should focus on action books.”

He nods. “Sounds good.”

I lead him to the area where those types of books are lined up on the shelves. After plucking one off, I tell him, “Read the description and see if it’s something you think you’ll be into.”

We’re quiet as we browse through the books. Because we watched that movie the other day, I get a sense of what he’d like, though I can’t help focusing on ones that have a decent romance subplot.

“Wow, how does one choose?” he says with a light laugh. “These sound great. Have you read any of them?”

I shake my head. “Not these. The only action books I read have more romance than action in them.”

He holds out a book to me. “This one looks pretty neat. What do you think?”

It’s a sci-fi action book that takes place on another planet. The hero has to save his planet from destruction or else it’ll end up like Earth, which was destroyed a hundred years earlier due to humans not taking care of it. “Hmm…no romance?”

He flips through the pages. “Look at that. I opened the book to a kiss scene.” His eyes skim the words.

I snatch the book from him. “Hey! No peeking. You can’t read an epic kiss scene before you get to know the characters.”

Chuckling, he holds up his hands. “I didn’t know there are rules.”

“Well, the truth is you can read however you want. There are some readers who read the ending before the beginning, but I don’t like to do that.”

“Okay. So I have an action book. How about you show me one of your favorites?”

My eyes bug out. “You mean…a romance?”

He nods.

“Are you sure? Because most guys gag at the thought of romance. I mean, they hate watching romance movies, so I can only assume they hate reading it.”

He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I’m fine reading a romance. And maybe we can discuss it once I’m finished.”

“Sure. My friends and I have a book club, so I’m kind of an expert on discussing books.”

His eyes light up. “Really? You and your friends have a book club? That’s great. I can’t imagine the guys and me sitting around discussing anything serious. My teammates like to goof off and have fun.”

“Yeah, my friends and I like to have fun, too, hence the book club. We also watch movies together and do many other things. Those girls are my world.”

“You’re lucky to have them,” he tells me as we walk to the romance section. “You’ve been together since high school?”

“You probably don’t remember a group of four nerdy girls sitting huddled together during lunch gushing about books.”

He gives me a guilty look. “Sorry, no.”

Laughing, I playfully shove his arm. “It was rhetorical. No one paid attention to us.” Seeing the guilt still on his face, I say, “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

“That might be true, but it’s still not right.”

I shrug. “High school is about survival, but let’s not talk about the past. We’re friends now.”

But would we be friends if not for our arrangement? Lincoln and I live in two different worlds, worlds that have no business colliding. Whether it is in high school or life, a guy like him would never choose someone like me.

“Yeah, friends,” he says with another warm smile.

“And we’ve reached the romance section,” I tell him as I wave my arms around the area. “Tada!”

His eyes are even wider than they were when we entered the bookstore. “Holy crap. This place is humongous.”

“Well, you can never have too many romance books.”

“No kidding,” he says as his gaze roams around. “Where does a person even know where to begin?”

“Well, I’d start with the new releases, but since we’re looking for one of my favorites…” I motion for him to follow me past a few rows. “This is it.”

The book came out a few years ago, but it’s still as popular now as it was back then. And there are quite a few sequels. “Emily was the one who found it. She’s obsessed with romance. And the rest of us can’t get enough of these books. You can check out the first one.”

He takes it off the shelf and examines the cover and description. “This book has everything in it,” he says. “Romance, intrigue, suspense. It will send you on a whirlwind of emotions.”

“I have cried many times,” I inform him. “And laughed, too.” I squeal. “Aw, too bad I can’t go back in time and read it for the first time.”

He smiles as he watches me. “You really love it that much, huh?”

“You have no idea. It was supposed to be made into a movie, but they’re having a hard time working out the details. I’m not even sure I want them to adapt it for a movie. Sometimes they ruin it, you know.”

“But sometimes they make it better, right?”

My eyes widen. “The movie is never better than the book!”

He holds up his hands. “Is that another rule?”

“A big rule.”

“Noted. So I have two books that seem promising, which is enough for me for now. What are you getting?”

I lead him to the new releases. Normally, I’m on top of what’s coming out, but I’ve been so caught up with work and this fake relationship that I don’t have time. “I’m not sure.”

He picks up one of the books that was released this week. “An alien erotica.”

“Oh my gosh, no.” I pull it from his hand and replace it on the shelf. My cheeks feel very hot for some reason.

We look through the new releases and I’m left holding five books in my arms. It’s tempting to buy all five, but I have a budget and that does not include so many books. Unfortunately.

I pout as I look at them. “As much as I’d love to take you all home with me, I just can’t,” I tell them. “I’m not swimming in dough, you know.”

Sighing, I begin to place two back in their spots, only to be stopped by Lincoln as he places his hand on mine. “You don’t have to put any back,” he says in a soft voice. “I got it.”

“What?”

“Choose as many books as you want and I’ll take care of it.”

I just stare at him. “What? No way. I can’t ask you to pay for my books. You’re not my real boyfriend,” I hiss the last part.

He gazes into my eyes with warmth and an intensity I’ve never seen on him before. “Callie, you’re doing me a favor and the least I could do is repay you with books.”

I shake my head. “You’re doing me a favor, too, remember? I’m gaining from this fake relationship just as much as you are. We’re even and you don’t have to buy the books for me.”

He still looks at me in that intense way. “What if I want to buy them for you?”

My mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out.

“Callie.” He places his hands on either side of my face, sending tingles wherever he touches. “I have more money than I know what to do with,” he whispers. “It doesn’t make me happy. But doing this for you will make me happy, and it’ll make you happy. Win, win for both of us. And I don’t expect anything in return.”

“I…I…”

“Please, Callie. It’s my gift to you for being my amazing friend.”

I still don’t know what to say, so I just continue staring at him. No one has ever done something like this for me. I don’t know how to respond.

“Take as long as you need to grab more books. Believe me, I’d buy you the entire store if I could.”

I shake the shock out of me. “Are you sure you want to do this for me?”

“More than sure. I’d probably waste the money on beer, anyway. At least now it could go to a good cause.” He gives me another smile that nearly makes me combust.

“Um…okay. Thanks.”

He nods.

“But these books are fine,” I say.

“Are you sure? Take as many as you’d like.”

I press the books to my chest. Of course I’d buy twenty, but I’d never ask him to pay for all that. “I’m sticking with these.”

He looks like he wants to try to convince me to get more, but then he thinks better of it. We head to pay. As we wait in line, I can’t help wondering why he’s doing this for me. My thoughts are a mess as we place our books on the counter and he pays. I wonder what that’s like—to have so much money you can spend it on pretty much anything you want. My salary pays decently, but I can’t afford to splurge on whatever I want. I’m fortunate to have Lincoln by my side, but I vow to myself that I’ll repay him for this…somehow.