I pretend I don't know what the fuck she's talking about. "No? This is still a bookstore, right?"
"It is," Sarah calls, her voice soft.
"That's what I thought." I nod, my gaze locked with Olive's. "I came for the scintillating conversation and a new read."
"Oh,really?" It's fucking cute how suspicious she is. "Fine, then. Since you're so fascinated by ourscintillatingconversation, it's your turn. Fuck, Marry, Kill, Darcy, Heathcliff, Rochester. Go."
I don't think she expects me to know who any of the three are, but a motherfucker can read. "Easy. I'm killing Darcy. He's boring as fuck." The way she squeaks indignantly is worth it. "I'm fucking Rochester because he seems like he probably knows what the fuck he's doing. And I guess I'm marrying Heathcliff. Even villains deserve love, Rebel."
"See!" Sarah cries, beaming from behind the counter like I just vindicated her. "I told you that my way was the only right way."
"You're both going to literary hell," Olive splutters, her cheeks pink. "Both of you. Heathcliff was cruel."
"Heathcliff was a product of his upbringing," I chuckle, striding across the store until I'm in front of her. "You're just mad because you're wrong. That's okay, though." I tap her on the nose. "We forgive you."
I want to trace her blush, see how far down her curvy body it extends. Instead, I shove my hands behind my back, out of the danger zone. I don't know what it is about this girl, but she drives me wild. She has ever since she told me that she was stealing mail.
She cocks her head to the side, studying me intently. "What were you doing last night?"
"What?"
"What were you doing last night?"
A memory of me jerking off to the image of her washing dishes in a sports bra flashes through my mind. "Nothing much. Why?"
"There were weird noises coming from your place."
I freeze, panic filtering through my mind. Jesus Christ. There's no way she heard me. No fucking way. Except…the look on her face says she did.
"No idea," I lie through my teeth. "Could have been the TV."
"Right," she says, not buying my bullshit for a second.
I'm going to kill Troy for not warning me that Aunt Letty had paper-thin walls and a hot-as-fuck neighbor.
"Well, I have to go," she says, taking a step away from me. "I have to work."
I blink, caught off guard. "I thought you worked here."
"No. I just spend all my free time here, so they figured they might as well make me useful while I'm here."
"Hate to break it to you, Rebel, but that sounds like the definition of work to me."
"No. Work is something you do to pay the bills. I do this for the free reading material."
"Ah, I see." My grin grows. "What do you do for work?"
She hesitates so long, Sarah answers for her. "She's a biochemist at a research lab."
"Really?"
"Yep," Sarah says. "They're going to find a cure for cancer."
Damn. My girl is smart and sexy as fuck. I like it.
Olive shoots her friend a scowl before looking back at me. "What do you do?"
"A little of this, a little of that," I say. It's easier than explaining that I'm writing the world's longest goddamn thesis on Aeschylus. No one in this century gives a shit about Aeschylus. Actually, I'm not sure anyone last century did either.