Page 33 of Safe With You

“I don’t know.” His gaze drifted around the bookstore before settling back on me. “You made it look easy.”

The compliment caught me off guard.

Most people complimented the event itself. The turnout. The decorations. The coffee. They didn’t usually notice the work that happened between all of those things.

“It definitely wasn’t,” I admitted. “I was one missing extension cord away from a breakdown.”

He chuckled.

“I couldn’t tell.”

“That’s because I have years of practice pretending I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“I don’t think you were pretending.”

If anything, he sounded certain, and somehow that made the words land even harder.

“I’ve photographed a lot of events,” he continued. “Most people focus on what’s happening on the stage. You seemed more interested in what was happening everywhere else.”

I folded my arms loosely, leaning against the edge of a bookshelf.

“I think that’s the important part.”

He tilted his head.

“The stage?”

“The people.”

For a moment neither of us spoke.

The quiet wasn’t awkward.

It felt like we’d both stumbled onto the same thought from opposite directions.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I was going to say the exact same thing.”

I smiled too.

Maybe Naomi had been right.

Not just about him being fine.

But about there being something...very much something...about him.

Before either of us could say anything else, Naomi appeared between us carrying a stack of folding chairs that looked far too heavy for one person.

“If y’all are planning on standing there all night, one of you could at least pretend to help.”

Ellis reached for the top two chairs before she could finish the sentence.

“I thought you told me not to.”

“I changed my mind.”

He laughed, taking them from her with ease.