Page 96 of Pages of Amber
She nodded. She’d packed the essentials out of the things Dottie had brought her. “I’m a little nervous, though.”
A thoughtful expression crossed his face. “Want to join me? We’ll make a pit stop before the gas station. It won’t take long.”
She squinted up at him, still kneeling on the grass. Her pulse kicked up a notch at the memory of his confession in the meadow. She caught herself daydreaming of it every other hour. Some nights, she laid wide awake, her heart beating to a silent chant.
Noah loves me.
Noah loves me.
Noah loves me.
“You fishing for my company, boy genius?” she couldn't help but tease.
“Every time and every day, m’lady.” He grinned boyishly. “Don’t get sick of me yet.”
“Your pit stop was the Hidden Gems Bookstore?” she asked, raising a brow.
Noah unclicked his seat belt and swung the door open. “Come on.”
She watched the back of his head as he climbed out. What was he up to? She followed slowly, shutting the car door. She began to walk toward where he waited on the sidewalk when a crawling sensation raked over her. Amber frowned as she looked up and down the street, but except for random passersby minding their business, she didn’t see anything that would cause alarm.
Why did this feeling keep following her? First at the mall with Beverly and Evelyn and it was here again. Why couldn’t she find what caused it?
Noah’s hand slipping in hers erased the frown lines that had gathered on her forehead. She moved closer to him, his touch grounding her.
“What are we doing here, Noah?”
He met her eyes. “We never got to buy anything.” He clarified further when he saw her confusion. “The day we bumped into each other here, when I found out about your stories, I made Arthur a promise to buy something but I didn’t. Then the day you came looking for me, we left without getting anything too.” He smiled softly. “I don’t know about you, but I had my eye on some new titles until you distracted me.”
“I distracted you?” She gave him the stink-eye. “The first time, you creeped on me and held my notebook hostage. I’d set aside the books I wanted but had to leave them behind.”
His smile turned mischievous. “I would have been sorry if it didn’t give me more of a reason to do this.”
He walked into the store, pulling her along by their joined hands.
“To do what?” she asked over the chiming bells. The checkout counter was empty of the store owner. Noah continued past the display tables, skirting around the other shoppers. The bookstore was surprisingly busy for a late Saturday afternoon.
Noah pulled her closer. “We have thirty minutes before we have to leave. We’ll browse the shelves, pick what we want and I’ll pay for everything you pick.”
Amber halted in the middle of the aisle. The words took their time to sink in.
“You’re paying?”
Noah nodded.
“Are you joking? You must be joking. Please don’t be joking.”
The emotions course through her, ranging from disbelief to excitement. Noah laughed as she bounced in her spot, his grip tightening on her hand.
“I’m serious. Go ahead, m’lady. Pick anything you want.”
A cheer left her before she could stop it, but she didn't care about the stares that turned her way. The next half hour was a blur as she and Noah wove between the aisles, pulling random books, reading blurbs to each other and admiring book covers. In the Mystery aisle, Amber stared unabashedly as Noah spoke about a book he’d read a month earlier. He flipped through the pages, stopping at a few of them to read an excerpt to her. It was the most she’d heard him say at once, and she wasn’t ready for him to stop. His voice rumbled, his excitement and passion washing over her. She took a mental picture of the dazzling smile on his face, storing it into a treasured memory bank that was steadily being filled up by him.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, reminding them of the timer they’d set for themselves.
“Come on, boy genius. Time to pay up.”
“Why do I regret offering to do that now?” He placed the book on the shelf, his hand lingering on the spine.
