Page 75 of Kings Fear No One
Enjoy the chance to peer down at her smiling face.
It’s an hour past midnight by the time we drag ourselves to bed. We’ve finished the bottle of White Oak and made the most of each other’s company, tipsiness and all. We settle in bed like has become our routine—fresh off hot showers, lying close in the dark, the sheet strewn over us.
Teysha yawns as she begins drifting off before me.
I grin as she babbles about romance books as if she’s forgotten she already told me all about them. Still a lightweight, the whiskey tends to have that effect on her. She’s out in the next few seconds, and I’m left confronting the truth.
Teysha said she likes sleeping in my bed because I make her feel better.
The truth is, I feel the same, listening to her soft breaths and feeling her supple body against mine. I fall asleep looking forward to waking up to her sleepy smile in the morning.
“When I said a couple books, I meant make it quick.”
Teysha bows her head and avoids eye contact, though the little curl of her lips tells me she knows what she’s doing. She knows she’s guilty as charged.
We’re at the Book Nook late in the morning. She’s circled the shop floor at least three times, stopping at different shelves, pulling out books to flip through them, then sliding them back into place.
I was patient for the first twenty minutes. But as the hand on the clock approaches noon, I’m ready to refuel my tank with some food. She’s got five more minutes before I carry her out caveman style.
Because it’s Sunday, the store sees steady foot traffic. The little gold bell hanging above the door chimes every time someone wanders in or walks out.
“I can’t decide,” she says with a book in each hand.
“Then get them both. Toss them in.” I gesture to the hand basket I’m holding that already has a modest pile of books in it. “You’ll probably read through ’em fast. The more books you get today, the longer it is ’til I have to bring you back.”
Teysha snickers as she drops both books in and joins me at my side. We head to the front of the store. The cashier has just finished checking out the redhead in front of us. She shuffles off with a large shopping bag full of books, making way for us to step forward.
Being the bright and sunny woman she is, Teysha strikes up a conversation with the cashier. I’m busy tapping my card to the card machine and pressing the buttons on the screen.
“All good to go,” the cashier says. “I double bagged so your books should be nice and secure.”
Teysha’s thanking her. I’m cracking open my wallet to put away my card.
The door chimes open and the moment flips on its head.
Time slows to a glacial pace. I look up in time to meet the dark eyes of the man who’s walked in and just pointed a gun at us.
17
TEYSHA
It only takes a second.
One second, I’m unable to contain my excitement. I’m so grateful for Logan treating me to a trip to the bookstore, my cheeks hurt from smiling. I’m waiting for the second we step away from the checkout counter so I can throw my arms around him in a hug and press my lips to his cheek for a kiss.
Then another second passes by, and the door’s dinging open. Logan’s glancing over his shoulder. He grabs me and wrenches me to the ground at the same time the snap of gunfire goes off.
I land on my side, colliding into the ground hard. Pain vibrates through my elbow, the air knocked out of my lungs. I’m left crumpled on the ground as chaos ensues. Logan’s drawn his handgun—I didn’t even realize he was carrying—and he’s fired back at the man.
The front windows shatter and glass sprays everywhere.
Several books fly off shelves. The clerk behind the counter screams, then cowers under the register. The man who’s shot at us dives for cover. Logan lands a shot in his chest before he can.
It’s only after the gunfire ends and the dust settles that I realize it hasn’t even been a minute. All the commotion happened in under thirty seconds. Thirty seconds was all it took to turn our simple morning date to a bookstore upside down.
Logan keeps his gun pointed as he steps toward the man. He’s sprawled out on the floor, no longer able to sit up.
The store clerk warbles out something about calling 911. Though, judging from the vague sirens whirring in the background, I’d say somebody else in the shopping mall has already done so. They must’ve heard the gunshots ring out and called in the moment.
