Chapter Five
“Excuse me?”
Jeremiah stared at Noelle’s slack-jawed expression and took a second to mentally repeat his words back to himself, trying to imagine how they’d sounded to her. Okay, so maybe his delivery could have been a bit better. But he was just so eager. As he’d walked to his car, the idea had struck him.
Wait. First, for the record, he hadn’t meant to start flirting with Noelle before.
He just couldn’t help it. She was so pretty, it made it hard to think.
He could have listened to her talk about books all day and he didn’t even read like that.
Talking to her made him feel like he was floating in a hot-air balloon, exhilarated, and existing on a higher plane.
He’d even blurted out that story about the word game Pop used to play with him and his siblings.
He’d been the worst one at that game, and he hadn’t told that story in ages.
He’d used the word uncouth because he’d wanted Noelle to think that he was clever and used words like that regularly, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
He’d been driven by the desire to impress her.
But back to his idea. He needed a fake girlfriend to bring with him to Heart Beach next weekend.
Noelle, with her bridesmaid side hustle, was used to playing a role, and more important, she was losing her main job and needed money for college tuition.
Pop had always encouraged Jeremiah and his siblings to help others whenever they could.
In this situation, Jeremiah and Noelle could help each other.
In exchange for pretending to be his girlfriend, he could pay her and then she’d have money to put toward her tuition.
The arrangement made perfect sense to him.
And from the way he and Noelle had talked with each other so easily, he felt strongly that they’d be able to spend time in each other’s company for a weekend.
However, given how Noelle was currently looking at him like he’d sprouted an extra head, maybe she wouldn’t see the same value in his proposal.
“Just for next weekend,” he added.
“What?” she asked, incredulous. “You think just because I’m a fake bridesmaid sometimes, I’d be your fake girlfriend? What kind of question is that even? We just met!”
“Please let me start over and explain,” he said, mortified at how he was fucking this up. She was right. She didn’t know anything about him other than his claims of having a sister who read horror novels and that he worked for Good Boy.
She frowned at him. “I’m waiting.”
Her long braids hung loose, and she brushed them away from her face as she blinked at him with her big, almond-shaped eyes.
She wore tiny hoop earrings in each ear, which accentuated her heart-shaped face.
She was short. He was six feet tall exactly, so he’d guess her height was around five three or five four at most. She had a smooth-sounding voice like an old Hollywood star or a radio talk show host. She laughed by way of a sultry chuckle.
Who was this girl who’d been working in this bookstore literally a twenty-minute walk from his apartment?
And why had he just become aware of her and the bookstore today?
Fate, probably. The universe had most likely sensed that Noelle was too good for him, and it had been intent on keeping her hidden.
And you know what, the universe was probably right.
But Jeremiah didn’t see why the universe couldn’t allow him and Noelle to spend a weekend together for pretend if it benefited them both.
“Have you ever heard of Smith’s Sweets cookies?” he asked. “My grandfather Jeremiah Smith—”
“That’s why you look so familiar!” Noelle snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Jeremiah and Minnie Smith from the back of the Smith’s Sweets cookie box! You’re their grandson? Oh my goodness. Wow, you look just like your grandfather.”
“Yeah, I hear that a lot.” He smiled a little.
She hesitated and lowered her hand back to the countertop. “I’m sorry. Does my saying that make you uncomfortable?”
“Nah, not uncomfortable,” he said. He took a mental catalog of his posture and facial expression.
His cheek muscles did feel a bit strained.
It wasn’t that he minded when people pointed out his resemblance to Pop.
But with the wounds from Pop’s passing still so fresh, the comparison to him only reminded Jeremiah that the man whom he resembled had been a very good man with a legacy that Jeremiah didn’t think he could ever live up to.
He was surprised that Noelle had read him so easily.
He was eager to change the subject and get back on track.
“So, is it safe to say you know our family brand?”
“Know it? I eat Smith’s Sweets all the time! Just last night, I almost housed an entire box of salted caramel chocolate chip cookies by myself. The only reason I stopped is because my best friend loves them too and I wanted to save some for her.”
A regular, everyday consumer singing praises for Smith’s Sweets, unprompted? If Celeste were here now, she’d take Noelle by the hands, bring her to the Smith’s Sweets headquarters, and have her repeat what she’d just said on camera for the social media team.
“I’m really glad to hear that,” Jeremiah said, pulling out his phone.
He opened his camera roll and scrolled to a picture of the last time that he and his family were all together in April, standing in Percy and Robin’s backyard for Ashley and Harper’s tenth birthday party.
He showed the picture to Noelle and pointed at each family member.
“This is my mom, Celeste; my brother, Percy; his wife, Robin, and their daughters, Harper and Ashley; and that’s my sister, Amara. ”
Noelle leaned closer and peered at the picture.
Jeremiah could smell her perfume, a fresh, floral scent.
The shiny lip gloss that she wore distracted him.
While she observed the picture of him and his family, he became transfixed with observing her mouth and the delicate dip of her Cupid’s bow.
When she finally glanced up at him, he flashed an easy smile like staring at her mouth hadn’t jump-started his pulse.
“You have a beautiful family,” she said. “But that doesn’t explain why you want to hire me to be your fake girlfriend.”
“Right. So, the reason I’m telling you about my family is because we have a house in Heart Beach that we go to every summer. Have you ever been to Heart Beach?”
Noelle’s brows scrunched together. “No, I’ve heard of it, though.”
“I told my mom this stupid lie about having a girlfriend, and now she’s expecting me to bring my ‘girlfriend’ to the beach house next weekend for my sister’s birthday party—”
“Noelle?”
Jeremiah was interrupted by an older, gray-haired man who emerged from the back of the store. Like Noelle, he wore a blue Hidden Gems Books T-shirt. When he noticed Jeremiah standing there, his steps slowed. “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t realize you were with a customer.”
Noelle pivoted to the man, then glanced at Jeremiah. “Oh, um, he…”
“She already rang me up, sir,” Jeremiah said, figuring this man was probably Noelle’s boss. He lifted his bag with a smile.
“Oh, good.” Her boss hesitated, then looked at Noelle again. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Sure.” Noelle walked to meet her boss, and they hovered near the picture books display to the left of the register.
They spoke in low voices, so Jeremiah couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but it must not have been good because Noelle’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded as she listened to her boss.
He gently patted her shoulder, sporting a sad frown.
He said something else that caused Noelle to summon a small smile before she returned to the register.
She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were shiny and red-rimmed.
Jeremiah felt a sharp tug in his chest. He wanted to do anything to erase her crestfallen expression.
“Is everything okay?” he asked as she typed something on the computer.
“It’s slow, so my boss told me that I can clock out early.”
“Oh.” Jeremiah wasn’t sure what to say. He’d never been let go from a job before—even though he’d absolutely deserved to be. “I’m really sorry.”
“Me too.” Her mouth formed into that small smile again. “I’d better go and get my stuff.”
She picked up her jacket behind the register and started to walk away.
Jeremiah worried that this was where their conversation would end.
He wanted to ask if they could keep talking, but she probably wasn’t in the mood to hear more about his clumsy proposal now, and he didn’t blame her.
Then, to his surprise, she paused and looked at him over her shoulder.
“Wait there, okay?” she said.
He nodded eagerly, relieved. “Yeah, I’ll be right here.”
While Noelle walked to the back of the store to gather her belongings, the younger guy who’d been standing at the register earlier returned to the floor and lingered by the beach reads table.
His head was angled down as he stared at his phone.
He didn’t acknowledge Jeremiah’s presence or greet the new customer as they entered the store.
It made no sense to Jeremiah that Noelle was being let go while this kid and his stellar lack of customer service was staying.
Noelle reemerged from the back of the store with a tote bag slung over her shoulder. She glanced at her oblivious coworker, briefly closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before sporting a strained smile.
“Bye, Kevin,” she said. “Today’s my last day. I’m not sure if your uncle told you.”
“Oh,” Kevin mumbled. “Good luck with everything.”
“Thanks, you too.”