Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Thank goodness for dirty books.
Chapter 14
Colby
“Improper asset management must be addressed.” Saint’s frown made it clear he was frustrated but it took me a few seconds and a sigh to figure out he didn’t like their selection of books.
“I don’t think we’re in the right section.” The regular contemporary romance section was not where they were shelving the books we wanted to read.
And I was very certain about that because we’d been looking through it for almost ten minutes. We’d managed to find a few romances with his people as best friends and sidekicks for silly adventures but nothing like what we wanted to read. “Maybe we need to go to sci-fi?”
Saint scoffed and waved several tentacles at the row of books we’d been browsing. “I am a here and now alien. Not an away alien.”
Was that the defining factor?
“The last time I was in here I wasn’t looking for romance novels, so I’m not sure if this is a change or not.” I’d actually gone in for coffee and a boardgame that was my work Secret Santa gift. I’d gotten a box of cookies…and still couldn’t decide if I was upset by that or not. “I usually buy them online, even the physical copies, since they have a wider selection.”
That made Saint’s entire body twitch and I had to look away so I wouldn’t smile. “Books are to be caressed.”
The way he was running one of his smaller tentacles along all the spines he could reach said he meant that just as literally as it’d come out.
Part of it seemed to be his way of dragging his feet…well, wasting time because he was offended at the possibility of being a far and away alien. He’d been walking much faster toward the romance section when we’d been aiming for contemporary romance where most of the kinky fun stuff was mixed in.
I thought we were making progress when we finally turned the corner down the next aisle and walked past the paranormal books, but that went fucked up even faster.
“I am not a shifter, my Colby.” Huffing, he picked up a book that had a clear picture of someone like him on the cover but he seemed to be mid-shift into a human. It was actually a really well-done cover, but to say Saint was shocked would’ve been a massive understatement.
“I am not that.” Pulling his drama back as well as his tentacles, he shook his head and sighed. “Human imaginations.”
I wasn’t sure if I felt sorry for him or if it was funny, but Saint’s Dommy glare said he didn’t appreciate anything he was picking up from me.
“Sorry.” For a variety of things, probably, but I tried to fix the situation by stepping closer and wiggling my way under one of the larger tentacles he used as arms. “Imaginations are weird. It’s not meant to be offensive and no one is going to think that’s real. We know you’re not a shifter or…well, anything else like that.”
I was pretty sure serial killers should be in a different section too, no matter if it was a shifter book or not.
“Some humans have darker imaginations than others.” Wishing it was more socially acceptable for him to pick me up and carry me around, I stroked one of his smaller limbs and got a wide-eyed look from an older woman walking past us.
She’d definitely been reading naughty things because her eyes had gone way too wide for just being shocked by regular homophobic nonsense.
“Let’s keep looking for the right options.” What else? “Oh, at some point, we should look at the cookbook section to see what kind of recipes you want us to try.”
Bingo.
His brain took that jumping-off point and ran with it.
“Humans have books on a variety of interesting subjects. Do you know there are books on decorating and ones for how to tell offensive jokes?” Saint seemed confused about both of those, but I couldn’t figure out how they’d ended up on the same list.
“We’ve got books on just about everything.” I pointed toward one I’d heard about but never read as we got to the end of the paranormal books. “Elven princess with a fuck-ton of lovers. See? Everything. One of them even has tentacles but he’s not like you.”
Saint huffed again but his sigh was less frustrated. “We are here and now, my Colby. However, yes, all books are not here and now.”
Most of his were here and now, though, and I read a lot of the same kinds of books.
I just needed to figure out a way to get him to buy more online so we didn’t have to do this again. There had to be a way. But as I wondered if he’d accept surprise book boxes from his human, we finally got to the sci-fi section.
Oh.
Yeah, we were in sci-fi.