Unlikely You (Sapph in the City #5)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Bren

Book club was creeping up on me and I was almost done with the book, but the ticking clock was stressing me out. I’d built my reading time into my daily schedule, but I was still cutting it close. I had a new product drop coming in two weeks that was also sucking up a lot of my time. I had to make sure that my website was ready to take the orders, I had enough ready to ship, and that the photography and product listings were perfect. I’d done this routine before, but I never wanted to get lazy or complacent because that was when things went wrong.

I had two different themed lines dropping: dark romance and what I was calling “summertime small town.” They were each so different that I hoped there was enough of a range for every one of my customers to find something they wanted. While the summertime small town was fun, I really loved the fabrics I’d found for the dark romance line.

I sent Honey a few pictures of the new products.

You are sworn to secrecy. No one else has seen these except for me.

I promise I won’t share! These are gorgeous!

She told me which one was her favorite and I went ahead and set aside a book sleeve and a matching bookmark for her. She’d already gifted me some honey and had helped me pack up my table, so it wasn’t that big a deal to give her something.

Honey and I were still sending messages furiously back and forth to each other. Some days I got a cramp in my hand from holding my phone all day so I could talk to her. I’d even caved and had sent her some voice notes when I got tired of typing things out that I wanted to say.

She answered with her own voice notes and I enjoyed hearing her, especially when it was late, and her voice got a little rough. It made me think about her being in bed and what she was wearing. Or not wearing. My naughty thoughts about Honey had only increased in frequency and they were so bad sometimes that I had to stop what I was doing. It got so bad I even tried to take care of it myself, which ended with me just being frustrated as usual.

I managed to finish the book club book on Wednesday afternoon with only a few hours to spare. I did as Delaney asked and didn’t eat dinner before I arrived at the shop. The sidewalks were full of people going out to dinner or drinks or just enjoying the summer evening. The air was still thick and muggy, and I pulled my hair off the back of my neck when I got out of my car. At least it wouldn’t be hot in the bookshop.

I checked my bag to make sure I had my book and locked my car before walking to the bookshop. I’d timed myself to be about ten minutes early so I could scope everything out and find a good seat in the back, preferably near the food.

The bookshop was all lit up and cozy as I opened the door and was greeted with a room full of people and a circle of chairs. Shit. There was no way to sit in the back. They’d arranged this to encourage participation no doubt, but that was the last thing I wanted.

Looking around, I searched to see if I’d know anyone, but I didn’t see anyone familiar other than Delaney, who was setting trays on the table to the left side of the room. That was actually a relief. Not that I knew a whole lot of people, but it would have been a nightmare to see someone from the marketplace.

I made a beeline for Delaney and she happened to look up just as I reached her.

“Bren! I’m so glad you’re here. Please, get something to eat so I don’t have to bring it home with me. Although, maybe that would make my boyfriend happy.” She laughed and I picked up a plate. Honestly, I was starving. I liked eating at very regular times, and this was late for me.

“Thanks,” I told her, and she flitted away to tackle some other task. I selected items and filled my plate, but not too much because I didn’t want to look like I was eating half the food and leaving nothing for anyone else.

“Bren?” a soft voice said behind me and I slowly turned to find Honey standing behind me with a heart-stopping smile on her face.

Like she was thrilled to see me.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Book club,” I said, stating the obvious.

She shook her head and let out a little laugh. “Of course. I just…I didn’t expect you to be at something like this.”

I snorted. “That makes two of us. I don’t really know why I’m here.”

Honey stepped closer to me, reaching around to grab a paper plate. “Free food?”

“Well, I had to buy the book to come, so it wasn’t exactly free, was it?”

Honey chuckled quietly. “That’s true. Where are you sitting?”

“I haven’t found a spot yet. I went for the food first.”

That made her laugh fully.

“A woman after my own heart.” Honey loaded up with snacks and then turned to me. “Where do you want to sit?”

I looked at the circle of chairs, several of which already had people sitting in them, some talking in small groups, a few on their phones or looking around with nervous looks.

“In the back,” I said.

“Well, that’s not exactly an option, so how about here?” She motioned to two chairs near the food table, but not directly in front of it so people wouldn’t be crowding our space to get to it.

“Yeah, sure,” I said. It was as good a place as any. Honey took the chair on my right and balanced her plate on her legs.

“I didn’t think I’d see anyone I knew here, other than Delaney.” It made sense that she would be here. Honey was exactly the kind of person who came to a book club. Her being friends with Delaney was also entirely predictable. They were very similar.

“Is this the first time you’ve come?” I asked her, assembling a little sandwich with crackers and a slice of cheese.

“Yeah. I’m… Well, I’m trying to get out and do more social activities.”

That floored me. Honey didn’t seem like the kind of person who would struggle with being social.

“Really?” I asked, raising both eyebrows.

She nodded and looked down at her plate. “I have a tendency to get too wrapped up in the farm and my family and forget to go out.” Huh. That was completely surprising.

“I do that too. But it’s because I’m generally sick of people by the end of the day and am so tired of talking that I just want to be alone.”

She studied my face for a moment. “Then what brought you out tonight?”

I sighed. “I don’t even really know. I caved to peer pressure from Delaney and Larison. They were very persuasive.”

Honey nodded. “Yeah, they are.”

She looked good tonight in a cute little T-shirt with strawberries on it and wide-leg light-wash jeans with pink sneakers. Her hair was down and softly curling on her shoulders.

She looked good enough to lick.

I’d gotten so lost in staring at her that I missed what she’d just said.

Fuck, I shouldn’t have sat next to her.

“I also came because a friend of mine said they were going to a book club and inspired me. She actually reminds me of you a little bit.”

I snorted. “So she hates people?”

“No. Well, maybe a little bit. She likes me. I think.” She frowned. “No, she definitely likes me.”

“Why don’t you ask her?” How could anyone not like Honey? Yes, I had initially disliked her, but that was for very valid reasons. She’d won me over anyway.

“Maybe I will.”

Delaney walked to the center of the room and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Hello, welcome to Between the Sheets Book Club. I’m so happy to see so many familiar and new faces. Can you raise your hand if this is your first meeting with us?”

Begrudgingly I raised my hand, as did Honey and about three other people out of the almost two dozen.

“Wonderful. Great to have you here. I just want to reiterate that participation is entirely voluntary, and we keep things loosely structured. I’m here to help facilitate, but if there’s a direction we want to go in, then feel free. I’ve got some lists of questions we’ll start with and then go from there.” She passed out sheets of paper with bulleted questions on them.

“Okay, let’s start with how did everyone like the book?”

I’d been afraid that her question would have been met with silence, but this wasn’t that kind of book club. Most of the participants were lively and eager to share their opinions. Delaney stepped in every now and then if things got quiet or when people had gone off on a tangent too far and brought everyone back with a new question. She did an incredible job of keeping things moving and not allowing anyone to dominate. I didn’t speak myself, but Honey did and every time she opened her mouth, I found myself leaning closer to her, as if I wanted to melt into her skin. I also compulsively nodded at anything she said so she’d know I was paying complete attention to her.

We took a break and more people got food before we sat back down and finished our discussion. Delaney stood up.

“Well, we’re just about out of time for tonight, so thank you all for coming. We’ll be emailing the options for next month’s pick, so make sure you check your inbox. We’ve got some really fun options and I won’t tell you which one to vote for, even though I want to.” She laughed. “Please grab any snacks or drinks you’d like to take home with you and get home safely.”

Well, that wasn’t so bad. In my head I’d expected icebreakers and forced introductions and “tell us three fun facts” even though Larison and Delaney had promised me it wasn’t like that.

Honey turned toward me. “That wasn’t terrible. I don’t know why I was so nervous.”

“If you were, I couldn’t tell.” Her smile was beaming, and I had to grip the edges of my chair so I didn’t reach for her face and kiss her so I could taste that smile.

I really was getting desperate. Time to go home before I said something like “hey, can I lick your neck and suffocate between your tits for a little while?”

I hadn’t been this fucking horny in years and it was incredibly distracting.

“Thanks, Bren.”

She pulled her phone out and took a smiling selfie. “My aunt is always pestering me to go out and do things, so this is evidence that I did. And I’m going to tell my friend that I came and had a good time.”

She was so damn cute I couldn’t stand it.

My phone buzzed with a new message and I saw that it was from Melliferal.

Survived my first book club meeting. Found a friend, so it wasn’t terrible!

Everything in the room ground to a halt.

I stared at the message and then looked at Honey.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, my voice sounding like it came from someone else.

Before I freaked out, I was going to check, so I stumbled to the bathroom and locked the door before sending Melliferal a message.

That’s great! What book was it?

My hands shook as I held my phone and waited for a response from Mel.

It came almost immediately, and the title of the book was the one that we’d read tonight.

My phone clattered to the floor and I found it difficult to breathe. Running to the sink, I turned on the cold water and thrust my hands under the tap, meeting my wide eyes in the speckled mirror.

“Holy shit,” I said, my entire body trembling like I was in the midst of an earthquake.

Honey was Melliferal .

Honey

I waited for Bren to come out of the bathroom, but she’d been in there a long time. Most everyone had left, and I needed to get home myself, but I wanted to make sure she was okay.

Gently, I knocked on the bathroom door.

“Bren? You okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” she said, not sounding fine at all.

“Are you sure? Do you need anything? I can give you a ride if you need.” No matter what was going on with her, I wanted to help. Even if she ruined the passenger seat of my car.

“I’m fine, Honey. Just go home.” Her voice was sharp and irritated. Okay then. She didn’t want me to help her, but I wasn’t going to abandon her in the bathroom.

I found Delaney folding up the chairs and taking them to the storage room.

“Hey, so I think something is up with Bren, but she doesn’t want me to help, so can you just make sure she’s okay?”

Delaney’s eyes went wide. “Oh no, I hope she didn’t have a reaction or something. Thanks for letting me know.”

She went right away to the bathroom and I stood back as she knocked. Whatever Bren told her made her nod at me and then shrug as she stepped away from the door.

“She said she’s fine. Just had an issue with her contacts.”

As far as I knew, Bren didn’t wear contacts. Something was up, but she wasn’t going to tell me about it. Like I’d care if she had her period and stained her pants or anything else like that.

“Oh, okay. Thanks, Delaney,” I said. There was nothing else I could do but send Bren a message saying I hoped she got home safe and to leave the bookshop completely and utterly confused.

Bren didn’t respond to my message and then Bibliofile had also gone silent. Had I done something to piss off everyone in my life?

I snuck out to tell the bees all about book club and the weirdness at the end.

“I’m probably being totally self-centered thinking that I did something. It probably has absolutely nothing to do with me. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to make it okay.”

I would see Bren tomorrow and hopefully I could get an explanation. Until then, my mind was running wild with all kinds of increasingly wild theories until I finally passed out that night.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.