Blessedly, the afternoon went smoothly and without any excitement at the store. And when I got a sweet text that said, “Thank you for last night. Let’s do it again soon,” from Jared, I had to really suppress my smile so as not to terrify the teenage boy who was looking for great books that were scary. I didn’t think he’d scare easily, but I remembered how adults seemed both so alluring and dangerous when I was his age.
Fortunately, I was able to put him on to V. C. Andrews Flowers In the Attic books, and when I said they were “vintage,” he and his faux glasses and skinny jeans were thrilled.
I waited until I had rung him up before I texted Jared back and said, “Friday, my place?” Mart was going out of town for the night to coordinate some massive wine tasting event in DC, and I thought i
