Page 50 of Love in the Stacks
“W-what?” I gasp.
Adam laughs. “I carried the bags all the way here. Don’t I at least get to see what’s in them?”
I roll my eyes. “Oh my gosh. I’m not sure I even remember. Let’s take inventory.”
We sit on the floor and start emptying the bags, stacking the books in several piles. Adam surveys the loot.
“Nicole, there have to be at least fifty books here!”
I blush. “I already said I got carried away.”
He shakes his head, clearly enjoying the situation. He pulls a novel calledThe Secret of Hangar 57off the top of a pile. Skimming the summary, he says, “This one is about an evil scientist whose experiment goes wrong and creates a giant slime monster that terrorizes a small, local airport.” Adam lifts his eyebrows at me in question.
“So?”
“So … how high up on your TBR list is that going to be?”
I laugh. “I liked the cover, okay?”
“Okay…” He grins.
“Hey, they can’t all be winners, alright? There are some that sound really good in here too.”
He laughs deeply and picks up another book. “I’ll grant you that.”
As we’re sitting on the floor of my hotel room, sorting through the stacks of books, laughing, and talking, I don’t realize how much time has passed until my stomach grumbles hungrily. I look at my phone and see it’s already 5:30.
“Oh!” I say. “I hope you weren’t looking forward to any sessions this afternoon, because I think you’ve already missed them.”
“Nah, it’s fine. This is more fun.”
I smile at him shyly. “It is,” I say. “Want to grab some dinner?”
“Sure! Burnt all my calories on the way here,” he says with a smile.
Chapter twenty-three
Nicole
“Molly!” I squeal when my sister walks into the hotel lobby. Leaving Adam in the coffee line, I run to give her a hug. She squeezes me back, and I’m once again grateful that this conference is happening in the very city where my big sister lives. I’m also grateful she’s willing to come watch my presentation and celebrate with me over dinner afterward. Molly is practically a genius—a scientist who spends most of her time in the lab working on, I don’t know, saving the world or something. She’s been interested in my work when we’ve talked about it before, but I also know it’s hard for her to change up her normal routine, so it means a lot that she ditched whatever she usually does on a Sunday afternoon and evening to be with me today.
Adam approaches us with a cup in each hand. “Your matcha latte,” he says, handing me one of the cups. Turning to Molly, hesays, “I don’t know what you like, or I would have gotten you one too. This is an Americano, if you want it.”
“No, I’m good. But thank you,” Molly responds then looks at me expectantly.
“Oh! Sorry. Adam, this is my sister, Molly. Molly, this is Adam, my, um, coworker I told you about.”
Adam’s eyes snap to mine briefly, and then he smiles slowly. Turning to Molly, he says, “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Molly says.
Adam shifts his gaze back on me. “So,” he teases, “you've been talking to your sister about me?”
My face warms and I quickly stutter, “Well, I mean that we’re presenting together. Molly’s coming to the presentation, so I was telling her about the presentation and how you’ll be at the presentation because it’s also your presentation…” I trail off lamely.
Molly watches my face with interest, but luckily, she doesn’t say anything. Our younger sister, Olivia, would not be as kind.
“Right,” Adam says smoothly. “The presentation.” He glances at his phone. “Speaking of which, I’m going to head over to the conference center. I’ll leave you to catch up. See you in a bit?”
