Page 56 of The Enemy Plot
A smile breaks onto Hayley’s face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Anyway, I’m happy for you, Alice.” Wiggling her eyebrows, she adds, “So, the date was great, but did you kiss him?”
“I did, but it wasn’t the first time,” I say, biting my lip.
“What?” Emma jolts in her chair, spilling some of her coffee.
“When?” Hayley adds, shaking her head.
I take a deep breath. “During our trip.”
“But you came back so defeated?” Emma frowns, which only makes me think of Deacon.
“Yeah, because the next day, he said he wasn’t interested in dating because he had to focus on Lola.”
Hayley frowns. “Oh, so what changed?”
I swallow hard. “To be honest, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet. I wanted to bring it up, but it was such a perfect date, I didn’t want to risk ruining it. But I’ll talk to him today. How early is too early?”
Emma glances at her watch. “Um, we’re still in the single digits, honey. It’s too early.”
I release a small breath. “Right.”
“So, is he a good kisser?” Hayley asks, wrapping her hands around her mug.
I wet my lips at the reminder of his own lips pressed against mine, and the butterflies come back in full force. “He’s an amazing kisser. Gentle, soft, and incredibly—”
“Ew, okay,” Emma says, holding her hand up. “We don’t want all the gross details.”
Hayley shakes her head. “Emma Sterling: the only romance reader who’s allergic to love.”
I chuckle.
“Real lifelove,” she corrects her, putting her mug down. “I’m perfectly fine with fictional romance. Especially when it’s twisted and morally gray.”
We all laugh again. I won’t say it, but I’m confident there’s a real man out there who will change her mind.
“Oh, by the way,” Hayley says. “Did you see John Taylor’s post? He’s narrating another one of Alexandra Bowe’s books. It’ll be out next week, I think.”
“What? No, I had no clue.” I lunge for my phone. “I have to check this out, stat.”
But as the screen lights up, I notice an email notification from SilverScreen Studios with “Location Rental” as the subject line. What’s this about? I open the email, skim through the contents, and let out a gasp, my heart thrumming wildly. “Girls! I think a Hollywood studio wants to shoot in our bookstore.”
They both frown. “Wait, what?” Hayley asks.
“Look,” I say, thrusting my phone toward her. “I just got this email. They want to rent the bookstore sporadically from July to September to shoot a movie.”
“Oh my gosh,” Hayley gasps. “They’re adaptingVelvet Kissesby Melissa Fortner!”
“No way!” I grab my phone back. How did I miss that crucial piece of information?
Emma finishes her coffee, then licks her lips. “Probably a scam. Ignore it.”
“I don’t think so,” Hayley says, typing on her phone. “The email address looks legit. And I just checked—the guy who wrote the email really is an employee of SilverScreen Studios.”
Emma scrutinizes the email too and agrees that it looks suspiciously legit.
“Well, how should I respond? Are we interested? Even if that means closing the bookstore, it could be pretty cool. And that’s a lot of zeroes per day of shooting.”
“It’s kind of insane, though,” Emma says. “Three months is a long time, and they’re probably going to tear the place down. What are we even going to do while they’re shooting?”