Page 41 of The Summer Show
“Be my guest.”
“I liked it.”
“Dancing with the bears?”
He didn’t laugh. And here I was thinking I was clever.
“When you read to me. On the plane.” He blew out a long sigh. “It helped.”
Well. That was unexpected. “You’re welcome. It helps my students sometimes, too. Reading to them, that is. Books have always been my center, my foundation, my sanctuary, and I try to bring that inner peace to children when I can.”
“And to men on planes.”
“Just the one.”
“Do you—I mean, have you found inner peace?”
“Now, yes. More or less. Unless my near constant inner monologue counts against peace. I’m your classic over-thinker. But other than that, I’m all peace, baby.”
“And it’s because of books?”
“Books, good friends, and having a job that doesn’t make me hate waking up in the mornings.”
“Where do I start?”
“With reading?”
He shoved his hand back through his hair. “I hate to admit this to a librarian, but I haven’t read anything since high school. Didn’t care much for the books they made us read. Turned me off for a long time. Until you read to me, that is.”
School could be the death of potential readers if the curriculum made dry offerings and the teachers chose poorly. I tried to get in ahead of that and start the love affair early, so that kids understood there were books in the world with flavor—and more importantly, flavors they enjoyed.
“What kind of movies do you like to watch? I’m asking so I can get a feel for what kind of stories might resonate with you. Reading is way more fun when you can pick stuff you know you’ll probably enjoy.”
“What do you like? What was that you were reading to me on the plane? I liked that.”
“Romance.”
He snorted. Could have been a laugh. In the moon’s thrifty light it was hard to say. “Never figured myself for a romance fan.”
“Maybe you’re not. What’s your fantasy?”
“Are we discussing our fantasies?”
“No, you’re telling me yours so that I can recommend a book.”
“Seems like this should be a two way thing.”
The thin light kept my flaming cheeks hidden. “I love romance. All of it. I want the meet cute, the happily ever after, the guarantee that these two people can overcome anything, as long as they’re together.”
“And if my fantasy is to slay the dragon, catch the bad guy, and then have the happily ever after?
We were having a moment. A spark of something hung in the air. Potential, I think. Maybe it was my imagination. I’d filled myself to the brim with romantic novels and now I was seeing romance around every corner.
I was hungry for it.
Starving.
And here was Nick Merrick, walking me home. To his sister’s house. A man who had no interest in me beyond making sure his sister’s friend got home safely and didn’t accidentally fall off the island.