Page 42 of Love Under Review

“Hey, I thought we were meeting at eleven?” Liam said, laughing as he walked up to her. He slid next to her on the bench and met her gaze with his bright blue eyes.

“Well, I couldn’t sleep last night, and I just wanted to talk to you first thing.” She closed her laptop and slipped it into her bag. Turning to face him, she placed one hand on top of the other over her leg. After a deep breath, she said, “I just want to apologize for how I reacted yesterday. I shouldn’t have done that. I guess it just hurt that I feel like we’ve gotten close and your sister being sick is a huge part of your life, but you didn’t tell me about it.”

“I know, and I’m sorry too. I can imagine you thought I’d taken off for somewhere.” He winked and gave her a lazy smile, causing a giggle to bubble up in her throat.

“I also have one thing to confess to you,” Danielle said, biting her bottom lip.

Liam raised an eyebrow. “Okay?” His voice was hesitant, and all of the things she’d pictured from the night before came rushing back. Was she ready to tell him the truth, only to have him back away from her like she’d done to him the day before?

Danielle opened her mouth to speak, but Liam’s phone rang, and he looked down at the screen. He held up a finger and said, “The delivery truck is here with today’s shipment, and I’ve got to get it unloaded or the guy will leave. Can we talk a little later?”

Frustration ebbed inside her chest, and she said, “This will take two minutes.”

Liam stared at her, giving her his full attention. And with that, she chickened out. “I, uh, thought I had an idea for our next article, but I can’t remember it anymore.” Her explanation sounded lame to her own ears.

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll see you, maybe tomorrow? MK Malone is coming in the morning. I’ve got posters and flyers being printed right now. Are you going to come?” His gaze held her, and she nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Liam disappeared around the side of the building, and Danielle put her hands over her face, feeling the suspense as she knew tomorrow would be a total disaster.

Chapter 26

Liam woke early, unable to sleep because of what today would bring. He still couldn’t believe MK Malone was actually coming to his bookstore. As he’d talked to a lot of people the night before while passing out flyers, he was surprised by all of the people who said they’d be there. He knew some of that was talk, but filling his bookstore with all the fans of MK Malone was more exciting than he imagined.

He’d been able to read the other two books in the series over the course of the past few weeks, when he hadn’t been driving to Grand Junction or participating in some event in the small town. And when he’d received the email that the author was coming, he’d gone to the website and seen that there would soon be a fourth book, which he was sure the many readers in Sage Creek would look forward to.

He kept thinking about Danielle as well, hoping she’d come too. What was she trying to tell him with her expression?

He sent her a quick text.Are you coming to the author event today? I hope to see you there today. Maybe we can get some dinner later?

He dressed, checking his phone every minute or so to see if she’d responded. She was usually quick to answer back, but maybe she was sleeping. Shaking off the feeling of dread clouding his excitement for the day, he dressed and got everything ready for Cari to head to school.

Over the next two hours, he did as much research as he could on MK Malone and made a few dozen cookies out of prepackaged cookie dough. He was grateful that others had already volunteered to bring in other food items, but he hoped it would be enough for the crowd that would be forming.

He got Cari off to school a bit earlier than usual and worked in the bookstore, shifting furniture and trying to decide how things should be set up. Tanner arrived with a cartload of extra chairs they’d borrowed from the rec hall, and the two of them worked to get everything lined up, having all of them face away from the door to the back in the hopes that any stragglers would be able to find a seat without disturbing the crowd. Two long tables were set up on the far wall, and when the ladies brought food, it would be easy to direct them there.

People started milling around by ten thirty, chatting with neighbors and saving seats. The buzz in the room sent a rush of adrenaline through him. It was something he and Kara had always wanted, a chance for the community to come together to talk about books. He wished she was there with him.

At a quarter to eleven, there were only single seats sprinkled throughout the crowd, and Liam was pacing around the shelves, hoping the guest of honor wasn’t standing them up. He’d worked with a few other authors for readings like this, but they’d always been early, leaving him time to talk to them a few minutes before introducing them to the crowd. Liam poked his head through the door and let his eyes search through the crowd, hoping to see someone unfamiliar with a red flower on his lapel.

The door to the bookstore opened, and Liam turned from behind the register, smiling when he saw Danielle walking through. She was dressed in a navy business suit, her hair half pulled back. The light amount of makeup she was wearing only accentuated her beautiful features, and he wished he didn’t have to go into the next room right then. He wanted to feel like he had in the stable after their date.

“Hey! You made it. You look the part of a journalist today.” He grinned at her as she joined him next to the counter and near the door to the adjoining room. She looked pained, trying to smile but it looking more like a grimace. “Did Clyde want you to write about this?”

“I need to tell you something.” Her eyes focused on his chest and not his eyes, making the uncomfortable feeling from that morning return.

“Can it wait until after the reading? I’m still waiting for MK Malone to show up so I don’t look like a fool in front of the entire town.” He gave her a half-smile, but she didn’t return the expression.

Moving her hand from behind her back, he saw a red flower in it. She stuck it into the lapel of her jacket. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.”

Liam’s mind spun with the information, wondering if she was playing a joke on him. “I never told you that MK Malone said he’d be wearing a red flower. How did you know?”

Tears leaked out her eyes and onto her cheeks. “Because I’m MK Malone. I wrote those books, not thinking anyone would ever read them. When I got here, I was shocked that people were reading the books in their book group and discussing them around town. I’ve worked with my name plastered all over as a journalist, and I thought I loved it at first, but now that I know what it’s like to not have my work connected to me, I didn’t want to say it was me. I wanted to tell you, was going to tell you when I sent you the manuscript of my new book, but this all happened.” She brushed at a tear as it rolled down her cheek.

“Why? We talked about writing several times, about you writing books. Why couldn’t you have told me then?” Liam bit down, Tawnee’s face flashing in his mind. Her lies of omission were what landed him on a reality TV show without his knowledge.

“I was afraid you’d look at me the way you’re looking now, like you don’t know who I am. I just wanted to spend more time with you, to see where it would go.”

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