Page 7 of The Disasters of Dating
He makes a face.
I chuckle. I think it’s my first one today. Wow, that’s sad and completely unusual for me. “Or as much fun as one can have when confined to an airport terminal.”
“People have made whole movies in airport terminals. So there must be something here to do.”
I grin. “It wasn’t the Salt Lake City airport, I’m sure.”
“True. It was probably LAX or JFK or something.” He lifts a hand in a sort of wave and walks away from me. Why do I feel disappointed?
“Miss Ashcombe,” a deep voice draws me out of my staring. “I’m afraid you’ll have to go to security after your shift and file a report.” Joe, the security guard, looks disappointed at me. Join the club, buddy. Join the club.
“Yeah, okay.” I glance in the direction Keaton went, but he is nowhere to be seen among the crowds. Not that I want to see him. Or maybe I do. Who knows?
Joe tips his head to the side. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to be written up for this one.”
My mouth drops open. “You can’t be serious.”
He nods. “You didn’t have the right or authority to detain him. Much less touch his backpack. And I’m not even going to get into the problems with you recording him without his permission. You could have put us in a terrible legal situation. Not to mention the chaos you created. And you know how much the security office dislikes that. Bad things happen in chaos.” He slows down his speech on the last sentence and raises his eyebrows at me.
Sheesh, he acts like I caused the airport to shut down or something. What did he want me to do? Let the guy get away with it—or rather not get away with it, in this case. I grimace. But for every mistaken accusation, there are four or five that are not. Shoplifting costs the store money. And I don’t like that. Especially when I see it and can stop it. “I’m sure they’ll just reprimand me. I can’t imagine they will write me up. I mean, I’ve never been written up. They love me in security.”
He raises a brow. “I didn’t hear the details, but there was a lot of chatter about something that happened with you and the employee parking lot.”
I purse my lips. That good deed just keeps on giving, doesn’t it? “Fine,” I say through clenched teeth. “I’ll stop by after my shift. Maybe by then, everyone will have chilled out. But for now, I have a customer.” I move around Joe—the downer—Moody. Hey, maybe his nameisn’t a coincidence…
As he strides out of the shop, I ring up the customer and then grab my phone to send a text to my cousins group. The chat name,Cheaper Than Therapy, feels on point today.
So, I’m going to dinner with a guy I met in The Wandering Reader. I may have tried to have him assisted for shoplifting. But the good news (for him at least) is he hadn’t stolen anything.
That should say arrested! I almost had him arrested for shoplifting.
Dani
I have so many questions! Also, this definitely sounds like a bookworthy meet cute. Keep us posted on how it goes.
Dani is a romantasy author. In fact, her debut novel—which I’m selling signed copies of in The Wandering Reader—went crazy viral. She’s supposed to be writing the sequel, but I think she’s struggling. It must be a lot of pressure to top or at least match her previous success. And it probably doesn’t help that her sister, Avery, owns her publishing house. I think Dani feels a responsibility to have another huge success as much for Avery as for herself.
Chloe-Bear
I can’t wait to hear the story of how you went from handcuffing the guy to meeting him for dinner!
Avery
Uhhh, shoplifter or not, that sounds like a questionable date, Pops.
I frown. She’s not wrong. I mean, I know Keaton didn’t steal from my shop. But do I know he hasn’t stolen from other shops? He may have been planning to, but I jumped the gun and accused him before he pocketed anything.
But I’m not a complete idiot. I’ll be careful. I mean, what could happen to me at the airport? It’s probably the most secure place in Utah. Besides, this is a one-time thing. An apology for falsely accusing him—or prematurely accusing him? The jury’s still out on his trustworthiness.
My phone vibrates, and I look to see that my sister, Sadie, has chimed in.
Shadie
Way to be protective of your goods! Also, look at you getting a date after you got him arrested. That’s my cute Pops!! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!!
Sadie has been Shadie in my contacts since my very first phone. It’s the name I’ve called her since I was two.
Berries
