Chapter Four #2
“Huh?” The butterflies had progressed to full-on chaos.
They were gnawing on the wires of her brain and sending sparks flying in every direction.
What was wrong with her? She wasn’t usually like this around men anymore.
But maybe it was because she didn’t often meet men like Jeremiah.
Men who looked put together and seemed like they knew what they were doing with their lives.
Her reaction to him was also probably due to the fact that she was both touch-starved and sex-deprived.
She didn’t want a relationship, but she still had needs.
The last time she’d hooked up with someone had been over eight months ago—a guy she’d met at a bar in New Brunswick while out one night with Tati.
Tati knew him from college (and was able to verify that he wasn’t a serial killer), and he was cute, and Noelle had been horny.
She’d wanted mind-blowing sex, of course, but she would have been perfectly happy with plain old good sex too.
Unfortunately, the guy struggled to find a stroke rhythm and Noelle had ended up faking an orgasm.
She’d been in such a rush to leave his apartment, she’d tossed her underwear in her purse and driven home commando.
She hadn’t gotten any action since. Not that she’d actively tried to get any, though.
“You said you knew that guy earlier from your other job,” Jeremiah clarified.
Oh. Right. She considered how to explain her side hustle. Sometimes when she brought up her stand-in job, which wasn’t often, people didn’t know what to make of it. But at the end of the day, Jeremiah was a stranger, and she probably wouldn’t see him again after today.
“Sometimes I work as a bridesmaid for hire,” she said.
His brows lifted as his eyes widened. His lips quirked into a smile. “Really? How do you do that?”
“I work for a company called Bridal Bestie. People who need bridesmaids reach out through the website to find someone, and the Bridal Bestie agency connects us. It’s kind of like a temp agency.”
“Bridal Bestie,” he repeated, pulling out his phone. “Do you mind if I google it?”
“Not at all.” Honestly, she was surprised that he was taking such an interest.
She watched as he pulled up the Bridal Bestie website.
A picture of Clarissa Roberts, Bridal Bestie’s founder, was front and center on the home page.
Jeremiah read through Clarissa’s explanation of how she’d first taken a gig as a bridesmaid for hire from a friend of a friend and realized she wanted to turn it into a business.
Jeremiah then looked through the different packages and testimonials.
“Wow, this is brilliant,” he said, looking up at Noelle. “Do you like doing it?”
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s pretty easy. This summer has been slower than usual, though, which isn’t great because today’s my last day at the bookstore.”
“Are you quitting to do bridesmaid stuff full-time?”
She shook her head sadly. “No, I found out this morning that I’m being let go from here.”
“Damn,” Jeremiah said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. Especially because I’m planning to go back to college in the fall, and I was counting on money from this job to go toward my tuition.”
She didn’t know why she was telling him all of this. It was almost like a taxicab confessional, unloading her life problems onto this handsome stranger who was thoughtfully shopping for his sister’s birthday present.
“What are you planning to study?” he asked.
“Sociology,” she said. “I have a year left to finish. After that I want to get my master’s and become a librarian.”
He smiled softly. “Sounds like you’d be perfect for that.”
Her face warmed again under his focused attention. She suddenly had the urge to fan herself.
“I’m sure you probably have somewhere to be,” she said. “I can check you out now.”
She pointed toward the register at the front of the store, and Jeremiah fell into step beside her as they walked through the aisle.
“I’m done with work for the day, actually,” he said.
“What do you do?” She glanced over at him, once again noting his sleek yet understated clothes. Clearly, he was doing well for himself.
“Do you have a dog?” he asked.
She laughed, thrown. “No, why?”
“Then you probably haven’t heard of Good Boy,” he said, smirking. “We’re a toy company for dogs, but we’re expanding into other avenues. I just had a successful meeting at Shop Mart this afternoon, actually. They’re gonna start carrying our products.”
“I do know Shop Mart,” she said, and he laughed. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you. We’re working on an app now and moved our operations to Northern California recently to better improve our connections. I’m moving there in September.”
“Oh, that’s really cool.” She smiled even though she felt a confusing sense of disappointment to learn that he was moving across the country.
When they reached the register, Kevin mumbled something unintelligible before slithering away to the back office. Jeremiah watched him, then looked at Noelle and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t even ask,” she said.
As she scanned the copy of Dracula, Jeremiah leaned against the counter and twirled a bookmark between his fingers. Noelle glanced up at him, once again trying to figure out why he looked so familiar to her.
She gave him the total for the book. “Will you be paying with cash or card?”
“Card.” Jeremiah pulled out his wallet and handed her his credit card. The card had a significant weight to it, and she glanced at his name at the bottom. Jeremiah Smith. She paused. Her brain, which was recovering from the butterfly attack, was trying to tell her something.
She placed the book in a paper bag and handed it to Jeremiah, along with his card and receipt.
“Thank you for shopping local,” she said.
Jeremiah took the bag and returned his card to his wallet. She waited for him to tell her goodbye and resume what was most likely his very fabulous life. Instead, he continued leaning against the counter, looking at her.
“I’m mad at myself for not coming in here before today,” he said. “I don’t even live that far. To think I could have been talking to you about books this whole time.”
Oh goodness. She sucked in a breath as the butterflies made a surprise reappearance in her gut. Oh, you thought we were gone? they taunted. Think again!
Spellbound, Noelle found herself leaning down onto the counter toward Jeremiah.
He grinned as their eyes locked. There was a vibe here.
She wasn’t imagining it. She’d read tons of romance novels about characters living their everyday lives and then boom, an alluring, smooth-talking stranger materialized at the most unexpected moment and everything changed.
Electricity pumped through her veins as Jeremiah smiled at her.
But slowly, inevitably, reality set in. Noelle remembered the mistakes she’d made before with men, and how she’d let herself get distracted and lose sight of her goals.
Now that she no longer had her main job, the last thing she needed to do was to start up something new with someone else.
It didn’t matter that Jeremiah seemed charming and funny and smooth. She had to stay focused.
Plus, he was moving to California in just a couple months.
She cleared her throat and abruptly adjusted her posture, putting distance between them again. For a split second, Jeremiah’s face fell. He glanced down, but by the time he looked up at her again, his lips were set in an easy smile. He rapped his knuckles again the counter.
“Maybe I’ll see you around before I move,” he said.
Despite her reasons for why she shouldn’t want to run into him again, she was shocked by how much she wished it might happen.
She smiled softly. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Bye, Noelle,” he said, backing away toward the door.
She lifted her hand in a wave. “Bye.”
Jeremiah slipped out the door, and she watched him walk to his car. Once he was out of sight, she deflated against the counter. Goodness gracious. How were people like him just walking around among the rest of society, beguiling bystanders with their charm and attentive questions?
She reached to grab her phone out of her back pocket, but she stopped herself.
No, she would not look him up on social media.
Well…she would at least wait until she was at home and off the clock.
How many Jeremiah Smiths were out there in the world anyway?
It would probably take forever to find his account if he had one.
Jeremiah Smith.
Jeremiah…Smith.
Wait a minute…
The image on the back of the Smith’s Sweets box flashed in her mind just as the bell chimed above the door.
Noelle glanced up and froze as Jeremiah walked back into the store and approached her, sporting a nervous, yet determined expression.
Had he come back to ask her out after all?
Would she say yes, despite her good sense?
Maybe.
But what Jeremiah ended up asking wasn’t something Noelle had anticipated at all.
“Noelle,” he said, releasing a deep breath. “I know that you’re used to being hired as a bridesmaid, but can I hire you to be my girlfriend instead?”