Tell Me a Story (The Story Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

of the cabana and stood next to her.
    “Hey,” I said in my softest voice. “You’ll be okay.”
    Just then, Sarah rushed over. “Want me to call an ambulance?”
    Caleb shook his head. I turned to him as he shrugged on his jacket. “Why don’t I go with you to help?”
    He paused and looked down. He seemed even taller now because I wasn’t wearing shoes. His anguished eyes bored deep into mine. “Thank you, Emma, but no.”
    He ran the backs of his fingers down my cheek, which sent heat coursing through my veins. Before I could say anything else, he turned and put his arm around his crying sister and they quickly walked away, followed by Sarah.
    I tunneled back into the cabana, not wanting to face the stares of the others. Flinging myself on the bed, I lay on my back, shaking, feeling more turned on than I had in years and wondering what the hell had just happened. I inhaled deep, taking in Caleb’s vanilla-oak scent that lingered on the pillows and in the humid air.

4
    “ D id you get Laura’s number before she had a panic attack?”
    “Yep. We’ve been texting a little today. I think we might go out this weekend.” Sarah selected a red pencil from a pack. We were in the bookstore, and I was straightening the items on the counter for the fiftieth time. I couldn’t get the nervous energy out of my system.
    Twenty-four hours after my erotically charged evening, I was still thinking of Caleb. I’d been too busy at work to try to find him online, and now it was time for coloring. I’m into that whole therapeutic coloring movement. It’s better than meditation. But pencils and markers probably wouldn’t get my mind off him.
    “Poor thing. She looked terrified,” I said.
    Sarah looked up from her Zen nature pattern and pushed her purple, cat-eye glasses up her nose. “Yeah. Wow. We were having a really good time, chatting and talking about going to a movie later this week. Then she started to breathe funny. I thought maybe it was asthma, and then she said she was having an anxiety attack. I tried to get her to sit, but she lost her shit and went to find her brother. I meant to ask her where she works, too. I’ll call her later.”
    I mumbled something about how she and her brother work together and then scowled, realizing I didn’t even know Caleb’s last name or the name of his company. Unless he returned to Story Brothel the following month, I’d have to forget about him. The thought made me more disappointed than I expected. It wasn’t like I’d been looking for a man. With the exception of the bookstore’s problems, my life was awesome. Fulfilling. Busy with friends and creativity and work.
    But Caleb had reminded me that life could be even sweeter, especially if it involved a heavy current of sexual energy. That’s what I’d been missing. I sighed.
    A guy in his twenties walked up to the counter, scratching his chest. “Dudes, do you have any animal pages to color?”
    I shuffled through a sheaf of papers. It was the first Thursday of the month, which meant it was Color After Dark, a monthly event at my bookstore. Hipsters and retirees and stressed-out artist types who worked as theme park cast members flocked to the store to color with pens and markers and pencils in hopes of clearing their minds. I provided the supplies and some chill tunes; they brought the booze. It was becoming quite the local event in Orlando, and that evening, a couple of dozen people gathered at the tables I’d set up in the back of the shop.
    “Here,” I said, offering the bearded guy five different versions of predatory animals. “Take your pick.” He grabbed a lion and sauntered off.
    Sarah sharpened her pencil, then shaded in a frog. In addition to being my best friend, Sarah was the bookstore’s manager. The job fit well with her schedule since she was getting a graduate degree in library science.
    “Since when are frogs red?” I asked.
    She tossed her long, chestnut-colored curtain of hair. “It’s my