No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 63

PENN

I was walkingalong Magnolia Street when I happened to see a familiar face in the bookstore. I stepped inside and watched as both Margot and Darcy looked at the door to see who had just arrived. Both of them smiled and then quickly turned to each other, Margot narrowing her eyes at Darcy.

“Hey, Penn! Did you finish Pride and Prejudice yet?” Margot asked, coming out from behind one of the shelves where she was stocking books.

I had gone into the bookstore not long after Darcy had made fun of me for not knowing who Mr. Darcy was and asked Margot if she happened to have the book. She had, and after I bought it, she’d proceeded to invite me over to read together, which I’d politely declined.

“I am about halfway through,” I replied, not moving from my place at the door.

“I have Sense and Sensibility behind the desk for you. I think you should read that one next. We could read it together.” She turned to Darcy, “I’m giving him book recommendations,” she said as though it were a privilege.

Darcy held back a chuckle. “Nice, Margot.”

“Penn, did you know I was an extra on Clueless?” Margot was moving toward me, and I looked at my watch and then to Darcy with pleading eyes.

“I think you told me that. I’m going to look for you the next time I watch it,” I said, backing toward the door.

“He’s going to look for me in the movie...Did you hear that?” Margot beamed, and then the phone rang. “Okay, well, I have to get that. Come back when you finish the book, and I’ll give you another one. Bye, Penn.”

Margot disappeared, and I felt my body relax slightly. I hadn’t realized how uncomfortable she made me, but I always felt like a piece of meat when she was around. I finally made my way to Darcy and grabbed her by the waist as she was laughing.

“I feel like I’m to blame for that display of affection,” she said, still giggling.

I pinned her against one of the bookshelves, pulling her into me with one arm around her waist and the other above her head. “Why’s that?” I leaned down and kissed her neck.

“I may have told her that she should go for it...like, with you.” Darcy shrugged and bit her bottom lip. “And we haven’t really announced we’re hanging out, so...I’m guessing she still thinks she has a shot.”

“So, it’s your fault, then? The fact she preys on me like I’m a gazelle and she’s a lion?” I ran my fingers through the hair at the side of her face.

“You think so highly of yourself that you’d say you were a gazelle? I mean, why not a warthog?” She teased me, and I lifted her up. Her legs wrapped around me as I took her mouth onto mine.

We were oblivious to the books that were falling off the shelves until Margot cleared her throat. We stopped abruptly, Darcy moving her way back to the ground and adjusting her hair as I stood with my hands in my pockets. I felt like a teenager being caught making out under the bleachers at a football game as Margot stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You’ll clean those up. They are in alphabetical order by author.” She flipped her hair and left the aisle as Darcy and I bent down and began laughing.

“Oh my God. She’ll overcharge me on all my purchases now,” Darcy said as she began stacking the books. “Speaking of, are you really halfway through Pride and Prejudice? I thought you were joking.”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Not joking.”

She placed one of the books on the shelf. “I just can’t picture it. Why are you reading it?”

I shrugged, gazing up at her. “I wanted to know how to sweep you off your feet. I figured who better to learn from than Mr. Darcy himself.”