Page 25 of Love Under Review

Liam and Danielle sat on the bench, the silence between them peaceful, and she looked over once, admiring his profile. After a bit, she said, “Don’t you have to open your bookstore?”

As if that spurred him into action, Liam jumped up. “Yes, actually. Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

Danielle stood as well. “How about if I walk with you? I’m done with the park for today anyway.”

They started walking on the sidewalk back to Main Street, and Liam pointed to her laptop. “What were you working on?”

After some hesitation, Danielle said, “Just some thoughts. I’ve toyed around with the idea of writing books. But that could just be a pipe dream.” The lie hurt, but she still wasn’t ready to tell anyone. As much as she was used to the spotlight for the news, she kind of enjoyed the anonymity of hearing what people thought of her books without them knowing they were written by her.

Liam stuffed his hands into his pockets, something Danielle liked as it emphasized the muscles in his upper arms. “I don’t know. I’ve read that MK Malone is a self-published author. There are a lot of opportunities these days. Maybe you could be the next rising star.” He smiled at her, his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

Danielle nodded. “Maybe. I have to write the book first.” Plotting was taking longer than it had the times before, and she worried the fourth book wouldn’t be as good as the earlier ones.

“Well, I have a minor in English, so if you ever need to bounce ideas or someone to read your stuff, let me know.”

A thrill shot up her back, and she smiled at him. “Thank you. You’re probably the only person to ever offer besides Becca. Which isn’t saying much because writing is not her forte.”

“I’ve read a few of your articles, and I think you have a talent with words. We could be reading one of your books this time next week.”

Danielle held out her hand. “Hold on there, city boy. I’d be lucky to have the first draft written by next week. Editing, proofing, cover design…that all takes time.”

Liam chuckled, the sound making her think of smooth chocolate for some reason. A few seconds later, his face sobered. “I’ve been thinking about emailing MK Malone to see if he or she would come talk at the bookstore sometime. If it happens, I’ll make sure you have some time to pick his or her brain.”

Danielle stopped a minute, her brain in overdrive. She felt her heart soften toward this gorgeous man, that he would do something like that for her when they were little more than acquaintances. But her mind then registered that he would be emailingherto come and speak to Sage Creek. What mess had she gotten herself into?

He turned and waited for her to catch up.

She’d have to put the kibosh on that plan as soon as possible.

Chapter 17

Liam smiled as he switched books from one shelf to another Tuesday morning. It was usually the slowest day of the week, and he had a system for rotating out the books depending on season, month, or event. The rotation helped the frequent shoppers to see something new. Impulse buys moved books.

Thoughts about Danielle floated through his mind. He liked her spunk and how she was so forward about her feelings on just about everything. The fact that she was thinking about writing a book was admirable. He’d always thought about writing books but had been too busy in New York.

Now, taking care of Cari and Kara the past several months, he felt like all of his thoughts about fantasy worlds had been frozen, the creativity not coming to him when he actually sat down to write. It was one of the reasons he’d volunteered to copyedit and then write for the newspaper, in the hopes that it would help spark some creativity after writing about opinions and facts.

He needed to get started on his article as he only had a couple of days left to write and edit his thoughts, which usually needed more time to flesh out. Maybe a deadline would be the key to pushing his brain to the limit. They’d be driving back and forth to Grand Junction after school every day when they could, hoping to spend as much time as they could with Kara, so his time would be limited. The treatments made her sick, but she was able to interact with them for about an hour before she needed rest.

The bell on the door rang, and he looked over one of the shelves and saw Danielle walk into the store.

“Are you looking for another stack of books? Because I think you’ll like that section over there.” He grinned at her as he walked out from behind the shelves. “I just moved the mystery section.”

She smiled and nodded. “Thank you. I actually just finished the last book in my stack around two this morning and figured I’d come in for some more entertainment. I wrote a few chapters last night for my book, so I’m on a roll.” Her grin looked giddy, like it was some miracle she’d done that much.

Leaning an arm on the shelf, Liam said, “Do you read a lot to get inspiration?”

“I guess so. I haven’t really thought about it like that.” She turned her gaze to the bookshelf next to her, her fingers moving over the spines of the books there.

With her light brown hair falling in waves over her shoulder, Liam found her simple beauty alluring. Tawnee had barely ever let him see her without makeup on and her hair done, and while he’d seen video clips of Danielle reporting the news, she didn’t look like a completely different person in real life.

But was that attraction enough to take away his fears of being in a relationship again? Not that Danielle gave off the vibe she was willing to date anyone. Colton had said something about a ban against dating, and he suddenly wanted to know what would lead her to that. An ex-boyfriend, maybe?

Realizing he was staring, Liam said, “Let me know if you need something.” He turned and ducked behind the shelf, doing his best to focus on the titles he’d already moved.

“Actually, I was curious if you’ve already emailed MK Malone.”

Popping his head back around the shelf, he said, “No. I haven’t quite figured out how to word it, or what we could offer in exchange for a visit. I know some of the bigger authors have a dollar amount attached to speaking arrangements, but I haven’t read about anything for him. Our small bookstore wouldn’t be able to afford a large sum for one event, but if it were a reasonable request, I’d find a way to make it happen.”

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