AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I actually felt my mouth water. That would just not do. I swallowed. “I need an event planning book.”
“Excuse me?”
I pinned her with a glare. “You heard me.”
“Sure.” She stepped around the counter to stand beside me before gesturing to the left. “Follow me.”
“Thanks.” I fell into step beside her as we made our way through the bookshelves. The brightly colored, glossy covers of the paperbacks under the various genre headings seemed to mock me. Was it really so bad not to be a reader? It wasn’t like I couldn’t read. I just preferred to watch actors make the books come alive. Was that so wrong?
“What kind of event are we planning? Wedding?”
“Har. Har. Har.” I jabbed my elbow into her side.
“Ow. What? Come on, you have to know I’d wonder. It’s not as if you’re known for putting on soirees.”
“Soirees.” I rolled the word around in my mouth. “Definitely planning one of those.”
Megan stopped in front of a bookcase on the far side of the store and pointed to the bottom shelf. “It probably is ninety percent wedding planning. So if that’s not what you’re looking for, I might have to order something for you.”
I squatted down and eyed the titles. Nightmare. She wasn’t kidding about them being mostly wedding planning books. Bright pink, flower-covered wedding planning books. I couldn’t buy one of them, just on principle.
My heart sank.
I pushed myself back up and blew out a breath. “Well. It was worth a shot.”
“Sorry. I don’t get a lot of people coming in for this kind of thing. But I can order you whatever you need. Did you have a title in mind?”
I shook my head. “I don’t even know what I should look for. They dumped the Christmas gala on me.”
“So work with whoever’s doing this year and have them show you the ropes. Learning on the job’s probably the best bet anyway. Right?”
My stomach twisted. “That’s a great idea. Other than the part where the one I’m in charge ofisfor this year.”
Megan’s mouth formed an O.
I caught myself staring, just a little too long, at her perfect, pink lips.
“Well then.” She tipped her head to the side. “This sounds like a story I need to hear.”
I shrugged. “That’s it. Basically. Other than the fact that the woman who usually does our fundraising hadn’t done any of the legwork at all. And I spent too much time on the phone with hotels today, only to find out that their ballrooms book up for the Christmas season in March. Or earlier.”
Megan reached out and rubbed my arm. I ignored the electricity zipping up to my shoulder from her touch. That wasn’t what she was going for. I was one of her many honorary big brothers. Period.
“You want some help?” Megan met my gaze. “I’m not a professional. Not by a long shot. But I know how to search the Internet with the best of them. And I have a lot of free time to do that during the day. I don’t even mind making phone calls.”
I clung to her words like a lifeline. “Are you serious?”
She shrugged. “Sure. It actually sounds fun.”
“All right. Thanks.” I blew out a breath. I hadn’t gotten a book, but having Megan on board was better. For the gala, at least.
I wasn’t sure it was going to be the best thing for my heart.
2
MEGAN
Iunlocked the bookstore door, stepped inside, and relocked it behind me before reaching for the lights. Most Saturdays I made it just in time to get set up before opening, but not today. Cody would be here in about fifteen minutes to go over all the details for this fundraising gala. I wasn’t convinced we could pull it off with only three months to plan, but I was willing to give it a shot.
