Page 110 of Ruin Me Gently

Grabbing the nearest book off the shelf, I strode straight to the counter, dropping it with a loud thud.“I’d like to buy this, please.”

Lilith’s eyes went wide, and the guy startled, snapping his hand back. She hesitated for half a second, blinking at me, then slowly looked down at the book I’d slammed between us.

Her lips twitched. “The Joy of Crochet, huh?”

I looked at it myself. A hardcover edition, featuring some elderly woman holding coloured yarn and smiling like she’d just been handed the key to eternal happiness.

I looked back at Lilith. Nodded once. “Yep. I love crafts.”

Behind me, Molly choked out something that definitely wasn’t a cough.

“I’m just serving this customer,” she said, eyes flicking back to mine. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

I nodded again, stepping back half a pace.

She rang him up quickly. He was silent now.Good.

“Have a great day,” I said to him as he scurried toward the door. He glanced over his shoulder but didn’t say a word, just walked out.

“Twenty-four ninety-nine.” Lilith’s voice pulled me back.

“For a book about crochet?”

She smirked. “Yep.”

I pulled out my wallet, flicking through the bills, then handed her a crisp hundred in cash. “Keep the change.”

Her fingers brushed mine as she took it. I could see the way her lips trembled as she tried to hold back an actual smile. “Gee thanks.”

The corner of my mouth twitched under my scarf. That was good. That meant she wasn’t pissed.

I leaned my elbows on the counter, levelling with her. “Anytime.”

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Do what?” I asked, tilting my head slightly.

“Chase the guy off.”

“I didn’t chase him off.”

She arched a brow. “You bought a crochet book to assert dominance.”

“No, I didn’t.”

She crossed her arms, eyeing me up and down. “Then what did you buy it for?”

“To make you a scarf.” The second it left my mouth, I regretted it. I really was a horrific liar.

“Are you being serious?” she asked, brows raised.

No. Absolutely not. The only thing I’d ever actually crafted with my hands was a disaster. Finn convinced me to go to a paint-n-sip to ‘check out the mom’s’and it had ended with no pottery and a small army of women screaming at us.

“Yeah,” I said instead. “To match that hoodie that looks so damn good on you.”

Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed pink.

Oh, I liked that.

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