Secret Admirer by Gail Sattler Read Free Book Online Page A

paperback or hardcover.”
    Todd’s head swam. If it wasn’t hard enough to pick meaningful words that rhymed and still get his point across, now he had to decide which reference book was the best kind to suit his needs. The one he’d found at the library seemed good, but he hadn’t realized it was any specific kind. He only knew he couldn’t leave the building with it. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “That’s what I want.”
    She pointed across the room. “In the nonfiction section, in 18B.”
    â€œThanks,” he mumbled again and began walking.
    When he finally found the right shelf, he gritted his teeth and went through all of the books, one by one, until he found one that looked as if it had the biggest selection of words per page. He cringed at the price, now realizing why the library wouldn’t let their copy out of the building, then picked a smaller paperback version instead. For what he was doing, he didn’t need every word in the English language. He only needed lists of words that rhymed.
    With his selection in hand, Todd headed toward the front of the store to check out. While he walked, he continued to survey the building and its contents, feeling more in awe with every table and shelf he passed. Finally, when he came to a table displaying a big yellow sign that announced everything on it was marked seventy percent off, his curiosity got the better of him. He stopped.
    The subject of most of the books centered on past holiday seasons. Some were works of fiction by authors he had never heard of before. When he saw one title that contained the word “Bible” he picked it up. He turned it over and started reading the back cover to discover the book was a work of fiction based on the life of one of the Old Testament prophets.
    Todd couldn’t remember the last time he read anything that wasn’t nonfiction or was longer than a magazine article. He opened the book and started to read the first page to see if he might like it when a voice piped up beside him.
    â€œTodd? What are you doing here?”
    He fumbled with the book, snapped it shut, and slipped it over the rhyming dictionary to hide the title.
    â€œShannon,” he muttered, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “What are you doing here?”
    She glanced at the table, then at the two books in his hand. “The same thing as you, apparently.”
    Shannon, too, held a couple of books. From as far back as he knew her, he remembered her reading something. He shouldn’t have been surprised to find her in a bookstore.
    She lowered her head to look at his two books and tipped her head slightly. “What do you have? Anything interesting?”
    He pressed the two books tightly together, not offering her either one. “I guess. Maybe. I’m not sure. What do you have?” Not that he wanted to know specifically what she was reading. He only wanted to distract her from the books in his own hand. Especially the one on the bottom.
    Shannon had no such hesitations. She held out both books to him so he could plainly see the covers. “I have a couple of inspirational romance anthologies. I just love Christian fiction, and we have more to choose from now. It’s especially great to find them in a store like this. You know how much I love to read. I have to admit I’m a little surprised to see you here. I can’t say I’ve ever seen you with a book in your hand.”
    He grinned. For years, he’d teased her about being a bookworm. He’d only meant it as a compliment. He considered her diligence in reading to be a sign of intelligence. She always countered his teasing by calling him illiterate.
    Todd cleared his throat and straightened his smile. He pressed his hand to his chest, over his heart and did his best to appear serious. “There’re a lot of things about me you don’t know. How about if I treat you to a coffee, and I’ll tell you