His voice is stiff, and my face flushes. That is not what I meant. “Thanks,” I whisper, unable to meet his eyes.

“Meet me here tomorrow afternoon at four,” he says. “And pack a dress you can dance in.”

16

Ryan

Josie—BookshopGirl—left ten minutes ago. Having her here, bustling around my personal space under the guise of helping, was unsettling.

How many times did I wish my online crush would walk in the front door of Happy Endings, giving me a secret smile that would somehow let me know it was her? She’d tell me her name—something literary and classic like Emma or Jane or Anne—and I’d buy her a coffee at Beans (something sweet, like her), and we’d sit and talk for hours.

I’d be able to open up and tell her the things I haven’t been able to talk about with anyone: That even if I get the manager job, I’m terrified the store will change so much it won’t be recognizable. Or worse, that I don’t have the ability to manage a bookstore that sells other genres. How angry I am at Xander for putting us in this position, for forcing me to be so competitive and cutthroat.

Of course, in my fantasy, BookshopGirl was not the manager of the Tab. Oh, how quickly a dream can become a nightmare.

I could still tell Josie not to come this weekend, pull out one of a million excuses: That it’s too late to change my RSVP; that there are no rooms left at the hotel. That I’m harboring a secret—I’m the same guy she’s been chatting with online.

It would be so easy to tell her the truth, just reply to the message that’s gone unanswered all day. But BookshopGirl wants to keep things the way they are, which is the one thing I don’t know if I can do.

With my fingers poised over the keyboard, I consider confessing my identity. She’ll be as torn and confused as I am, and there’s no way she’ll still want to go on the trip.

And yet…

Before I can change my mind again, I type out a quick reply and hit send.

RJ.Reads: Okay. If that’s what you want.

I know it’s the coward’s way out. I also know that, deep down, it’s what I want, too; to go back to the way things were before I knew.

The best I can hope for is that this trip will show me once and for all who Josie Klein is. If she’s the ice queen, or the woman I thought I was developing real feelings for.

—

“You’ve got a lot of stuff in here,” Josie says.