Gentleman Nine(11)

“What?”

“If it ends up being a dud, you still get to take something new home to cuddle up with in bed.” I wriggled by brows.

“I like the way you think, Lord.”

My eyes landed on a situation happening in one of the aisles. “Even observing people in bookstores can be fun.” I pointed to this dude I’d been watching before she arrived. “Take that guy, for example. Look how he’s not even opening up the book he’s holding. He’s been watching that woman who’s browsing next to him the entire time. He’s pretending to be interested in The Nightingale, but really, he’s totally getting ready to make his move. And that choice of book was no accident, either. It’s a popular book. The likelihood that she’s read it and liked it is high. So, he’s counting on it as a potential conversation starter.”

“That theory makes sense, but how can you be so sure of what’s about to happen?” She drew her own conclusion. “Ah…you’ve picked women up in bookstores before, too.”

Shrugging, I admitted, “I might have done the casual aisle thing once.”

“Did it work?”

I simply smirked.

Amber rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even need to ask. I’m sure everything works for you.”

It amused me that she assumed things were so easy for me. “Why do you think that?”

“Because women have always been unable to resist you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the bookstore aisle or the pet aisle at the supermarket, the story is the same in the end. You get the girl. You can have any woman you want.”

“I’ll have you know that’s not always the case, Amber Walton.”

“Someone rejected you?”

She was still clueless as to how I used to feel about her, never imagining that she was the first person who came to mind when she asked me that question. Even though it wasn’t a blatant rejection, she had no idea how it felt for me when she got together with Rory. Besides Amber, there was only one other woman in my life whom I’d wanted but couldn’t have. I don’t think I’d ever spoken about the situation with Emily to another person. If anyone could understand, though, it was Amber.

“Yes, actually. Someone did reject me once.”

“Really?” She leaned in. “Do tell, Channing.”

“There’s not much to tell. Her name is Emily. About a year ago, we met at the wedding of a buddy of mine. It was a three-day event in the Bahamas. We had this weird, instant connection. She was probably the first woman I can honestly say I could’ve seen myself in a relationship with or at least trying for it.” I paused as I thought back to that weekend. “Anyway, we had an amazing time together. We were inseparable. I hadn’t felt that way about someone in a long while. When the weekend came to an end, I went back to Chicago. And she went home to Massachusetts. We stayed in touch long-distance.”

“Wait…she lives here in Mass?”

“Yeah…somewhere outside Boston, ironically.”

“So, you’d gotten closer to her over the phone and then what?”

“Yeah. We were talking a lot—lots of Skype sex. And I found myself thinking about her a lot when we weren’t communicating. I was supposed to come out to visit her, but she ended up getting back together with her ex-boyfriend out of the blue. I’d known about him all along, but she never gave me any indication that she was still into him. Anyway, she explained that she felt terrible for leading me on and all of that but that she had to follow her heart. There’s really not much more to tell. It’s nothing compared to what you’re going through with Rory, but I’m not unfamiliar with disappointment.”

She seemed truly shocked. Amber had definitely witnessed some of my biggest moments of vulnerability in those months after Lainey died. But over the years, I’d put up such a good front around people, that I made it easy for her to forget that I’d ever had a sensitive side. She probably thought I’d hardened a lot more than I actually had.

“Wow. Thank you for sharing that with me. I guess it was dumb of me to assume that you were immune to getting hurt.”

“I wasn’t looking for anything serious. But Emily just came out of the blue.”

“That’s how it happens sometimes, I would imagine.”

I was done talking about Emily. I’d pretty much gotten over that whole thing, but rehashing it made me feel like shit. This was a taste of how Amber must have felt the other night when I made her talk about what happened with Rory.

Glancing over at the man macking in the aisle, I said, “See? What did I say about him?”

The dude was now holding the book behind his back as he chatted with his female prey.

“Holy crap. You were right.” Amber was cracking up. “Oh, my God. She’s leaving with him now!”

“See. That was slick. Slow and steady wins the race.”

“Apparently.”

I took her empty coffee mug and returned it to the counter.

Back at the table, I asked, “You want to look around?”

“Sure. Now that the fiction aisle A through L is done being used for Love Connection.”

As we browsed, I brushed my index finger along the books on the shelves while Amber followed close behind me.

“Now, I want you to really think about this question, Amber.”