Page 32 of Booked for Theft

Sixteen books in total went onto a series of four trays so nothing would be damaged.

I did the math, realizing Bradley could buy a nice car or several nice horses for the sum. I glared at the volumes, wondering if there was a nice way to inform my fiancé he’d lost his mind.

“Would you be willing to hold these for me until either Friday night or early Saturday morning?”

“What time Saturday morning?”

“Offensively early,” Bradley confessed. “We’ll probably be rolling out at three in the morning.”

“As I go to bed at two at night on Friday nights, as the wife takes care of the shop on Saturdays, I can handle that for you no problem.” The man pointed at the ceiling. “We actually live above the shop.”

I sighed at the thought of owning a bookshop and living above work. “Commuting sucks.”

With a laugh, Bradley handed over his credit card. “I’d also like to purchase the bundle of antique piano music you have in the display case.”

Of course he did. “Aren’t you going to ask how much that costs?”

“No. However, I’m going to ask how much the Bach manuscript is.”

“Half a million,” the shopkeeper replied.

I made a strangled noise.

Bradley smiled. “Please put it with her books and the bundle.”

The man took Bradley’s credit card, headed to the terminal, and rang up the order before bringing over the device so Bradley could finish the purchase.

The machine pinged, indicating the transaction had been approved.

Then, because my fiancé wanted to finish me off, he handed me a twenty dollar bill. “Buy one book you are willing to put in your purse. If you fail to do this, I will buy something else with the card.”

Well aware the evil man would do as threatened, I fled from the register, hunting through the more recent titles in search of something that met his basic requirements. I located a spicy romance and a thriller novel that spent all but a dollar of the twenty and brought it to the register.

Once armed with my dollar, I used it as a bookmark in the thriller so my fiancé would not get any additional ideas. “You spent too much.”

“I spent an appropriate amount of money on things that are precious,” he countered.

“You led me into temptation!”

“And I successfully tempted you. If you are expecting any shame over this, you are sorely mistaken, Future Mrs. Hampton.”

I put both books into my purse. “Please tell me this is not going to happen at every bookstore.”

“It’s not, but only because this bookstore blatantly had the Bach manuscript on their website, and I found it yesterday when left unattended.”

Clever, devious man. “I see. You used me as a scapegoat so you could come in here and buy antique piano music.”

“It has its certificate of authenticity and everything, and it’s magically preserved.”

“The directions on how to renew the preservation are included with the manuscript,” the shopkeeper promised. “And if you think my Bach manuscript is impressive, the music store down the street recently acquired several Beethoven manuscripts.”

“Music or writings?” Bradley asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Music. It’s for violin, much like your Bach manuscript. I’m sure they have some antique piano music as well.”

My fiancé frowned.

“I’m sure we can figure out how to go down the street and buy you some antique piano music, but you’re going to have to prove you can afford the Beethoven.”

“It’s a million and a half,” the shopkeeper stated.

Ouch. While Bradley had hunted money, and a lot of it, during my kidnapping, I struggled to comprehend spending that much on sheet music.

“Would you mind holding on to anything I buy there here for pickup?”

“That won’t be a problem at all. It’s not like those manuscripts take up that much space, and you bought a nice collection.”

That he had. Sighing, I surrendered to the inevitable. “If you want to buy music, go buy music. I will stay here and look at the books. Don’t take all day. I do have an appointment at three.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” Bradley swore before fleeing the store as though his shoes had caught on fire.

“Please show me something that won’t cost me a fortune.”

“I have a bin of books that are three for a quarter. Why don’t we go check those out after I put these away?”

I could work with three for a quarter. “I have a dollar, and I’m willing to spend it.”