And that’s when the gears in Imogen’s mind started working. A shipment arrived that Jo didn’t expect. Daniella was pissed about the discrepancy. And Eli was twitchy, nervous, and willing to go deal with Daniella when she was pissed. Imogen was starting to get a picture of what was happening, and not one bit of it looked good for Eli. Maybe Wild Nights Bookstore hadn’t been closing.

Maybe Eli was the reason they were going under.

Jo looked up at Imogen. “Look, I better get in there and see what all of this is about. Daniella is probably running the numbers. I’m sure she’ll get to the bottom of this in no time.”

And for some reason—despite the fact that Eli had a record and the fact that Imogen hated Cool Girl and would have loved to watch her sweat under the pressure of Jo’s potential interrogation—Imogen blurted out the one thing she knew would stop Jo cold in her tracks.

“Is Wild Nights really closing?”

Jo froze, the pen she’d used to sign for the delivery clattering to the ground in the alley.

Imogen ran a hand over her freshly cut hair. This was going to be a fun conversation.

6

Let Me Count the Ways

10:06 A.M.

Daniella

Daniella stared at Eli.

She had crossed her arms and was doing her best impersonation of her own mother when Daniella came home after curfew. Daniella had ample experience with this expression, so she was pretty positive that she was nailing the steely glare combined with that intractable forward lean.

Eli stared back at Daniella.

He was doing his best angelic face of innocence. And Eli had quite the cherubic features—curly dark blond hair, full and dimpled cheeks, and an absolutely guileless smile. When Daniella had first met Eli, she’d thought he was plain and unremarkable looking. But the more she looked, the more she noticed things about him—first those dimples on his cheeks, then a faint scar above his eyebrow, and lastly the way the sides of his eyes crinkled when he was trying to hide that he was up to no good.

Daniella didn’t particularly like noticing so many things about him; she discovered a new set of freckles along his left cheekbone. Probably from the summer sun. But Daniella wasn’t going to give up a staring contest without a fight.

This was a stalemate.

Luckily, Eli cracked first. “Funny running into you here.”