Bookstore princess

Chapter 26

Nadia

I napped most of the day after James left. When I woke up again Jenny was in the living room with me and she was on her phone, mindlessly scrolling. I sat up with a bit of a start considering she never announced her presence when she came in. I'm still in my pajamas and curled up in a dark blue fluffy blanket with designs of a wolf on it, howling at the moon.
"Hey buddy" Jenny notices me moving and looking at her. Melody is perched on her lap and purring loudly. "How are you feeling?" she asks, with an air of curiosity.
"Like I'm just waking up" I give a half smirk, pushing off the blanket and putting my bare feet on the wood floor.
"Okay, fair enough," she shrugs and starts petting Melody who purred even louder in approval. "Your boyfriend is working pretty hard down there"
"Boyfriend?" I flushed, not used to that wording. I suppose he's my boyfriend, we just never discussed it if I'm going to be honest with myself. We just kind of assumed that we are in a relationship since we've been inseparable since the night we met.
"Yes, James, the man, the myth, and the legend" she chuckles. "The work horse downstairs that keeps us on our toes and getting his family to come in. We need to do an emergency order big time" she wiggles her eyebrows. "He's going to head up once things die down a little. Jacob is so busy on the floor, he's not getting a reprieve. I caffeinated them before I abandoned them" she grins while leaning in, her blue eyes looking into my own.
"Thank you for that. Maybe I should go downstairs and help out" I sit up more and groan. "I need a new couch" I pout, feeling the strain of my muscles as I move. The fever might have gone down, but the acute body pain has barely lessened.
"Considering you got it second hand ten years ago, and brought it with you because your mom said she was throwing it away... yeah buddy. You need a new couch" Jenny shakes her head.
"Yes well... it was a good deal" I sniff, trying not to be embarrassed. Sure, I'm frugal except when it comes to books and my food. But I can change. Maybe.
"Did you finish it?" She points at the book beside me and I grin, thinking back to how good it was. James certainly knows my taste, even after such a short period of time.
"Ate it up like candy" I admit. "It was very good. Sweet James keeps buying me werewolf romance novels that I tend to gravitate to," I giggle. "I'm not complaining, I just hope he's getting the employee discount" I tell her, scrunching my nose a bit.
"I assure you, he is not" she picks up Melody and gives her a kiss on top of her head. "Is there an unread section up here?" she looks around, honestly not sure. I grimace, already knowing she's probably going to laugh.
"Nah, I read them all. I should read off my e-reader for a bit if I'm going to be honest with myself. I keep paying for it, thinking I'm going to make more space available up here. I just can't part with my books" I pout and she does laugh.
"Well, it's not drugs," she shrugs, as though defending my addiction.
"You're more relaxed than usual" I point out.
"This week's sales skyrocketed, it's been fantastic. James pointed out a few things today that we can do better, starting with adding more staff and maybe expanding a little in a year. He also pointed out we have lots of room for storage if we do a little bit of renovations in one of the basements" Jenny seemed pleased. It sounds to me like they talked about all of this a great deal
"I can't wait for tomorrow's meeting, it would be good to go over it" I gave a soft smile.
"If we have the meeting. I took the liberty of grabbing your thermometer" Jenny took it out off the table between us. I didn't even notice it there. She leans over and takes my temperature via my ear and hums. "What was your temperature this morning?" she asks.
"Just a hundred and one point three" I frown a bit. "I'm just sore" I admit, feeling it in my body. I don't want to move too much, but I should start making James something to eat shortly. I'm slow moving, and he deserves a good meal after working hard all day.
"Well, you're down to a hundred point three, so it's finally going down. That's the good news at least" she grins. "Now I won't feel so bad about asking... are freaking kidding me? Asking a man you barely know to move in with you?" She puts the thermometer down and looks at me like I have three heads.
"I can't explain it, it just feels so right when I'm with him. He's not like those other guys I've been with before" I defend myself automatically. "You've met him" I add in a rush, gesturing to the front door as though he's magically going to walk through it.
"I have, and I can see the appeal in how he treats you. I just feel like you guys are moving a bit fast" she says with a bit of hesitation.
"I'm fine, this feels so right" I say, pleading my case.
"Okay, alright. But if he hurts you, they'll never find the body" she gives a threat and I giggle. She's not that scary, to me at least.
"Yes, the big bad Jenny" I continue to giggle and her face gets a little flush.
"Jacob agrees, and I watch enough true crime documentaries that I know what I'm doing" she says, and I bite my bottom lip as I try to stop giggling.
"Okay, I know you have my back. I've got yours too" I smile.
"Good, now I'm going to head home. Take it easy, and I'll see you in the morning. If the fever goes back up, we are headed to the medical clinic"Jenny warns me, and I shudder at the thought of it.
"Yeah, this had better be gone by then. Spending an entire day in a small room is not my plan" I wish I could turn my death glare on my immune system.
"Well, I'll be with you either way" she grins and walks out, closing the door behind her. I sigh and look at Melody who's now sitting in front of me. I'm not sure when the dynamic changed, but I feel like Melody is waiting for James to get off work too. I pick her up and put her high above my head and kiss her furry and fluffy belly first before kissing the tip of her nose. She gives a small meow, and I set her down again and get up, leaving my blanket discarded behind me. I get a bit of a chill, but ignore it as I head to the kitchen to put on my pink apron.

James

I don't remember the last time I was this excited to be done with work. Granted, I know I have to work on stuff for the pack after work, but my little mate is upstairs waiting for me and I can't wait to be there with her. I'm hoping the fever has gone down, and that there's nothing more to worry about. Jenny made a cryptic remark on her way out that "Only time will tell". I'm worried, and not used to being around humans who seem so weak sometimes. First Jacob and Rieta, now Nadia. Although, I am glad she's not vomiting. That would cause a lot of worry, and I probably would have brought her to the hospital kicking and screaming on the first day it happened. I remember when Steve used to get sick all the time when we were pups. We would be in the pack hospital more often than not. He grew out of it eventually, but I know the smell of hospitals still makes me uncomfortable. Both Steve and I at least. I think I'd have to knock him out to take him to a hospital as an adult, not that he really needs it. When we get injured in fights, we have a tendency to clean them up and sew them up ourselves. With our supernatural healing abilities there's barely a scratch by morning for most things.
Jacob cleans and does inventory for most of the evening, and I'm busy with customers. I can see why they love this little bookstore so much. Running it must be hard, but the looks on the customer's faces when they've bought a new book or journal is perfect. Not to mention how grumpy frowns turn upside down with Jenny's magical coffee. I've been identifying ways to improve things for them all day, but really, I've been thinking about it since I first started coming here.
I watch as Jacob flips the open sign to closed and he makes his way to Jenny's space and starts printing out the sales receipts for the day, and I do the same before we both start counting the registers out. I look at the lone red rose left over after counting out the fifty dollar bills and decide I'm taking it upstairs to Nadia.
"Jacob, I meant to buy a book before closing up. Can I log this all back in?" I ask him.
"No, but just take it and write it down on a sticky note. We will put it down as a write off, you've done a lot this week" he shrugs.
"I insist on paying" I shake my head, disagreeing.
"I insist on you taking whatever book you plan on sneaking up to Nadia" Jacob sighs heavily and a smirk.
"I was going to buy two books" I corrected him.
"Then grab two. Hell, grab ten. It's not like you didn't work for it" Jacob rolls his eyes. "Just go pick them out, and write it down on a sticky note. I'll count out the registers, why don't you head upstairs?" he said, and I know it's his way of trying to get rid of me. I'm not going to argue though, I've been chomping at the bit to go back upstairs all day. I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and put sixty dollars down on the counter and go hunting for a book I haven't seen Nadia read or in her apartment. I pick out a relatively new release and grab two. I write the names on a sticky note and put it on top of the sixty bucks and grab the last rose.
"See you tomorrow," Jacob says as I head for the door.
"See ya" I grin, going through the door and then taking the stairs two steps at a time. I look down at the books proudly and wonder if Nadia has gotten enough rest, or if she's finished the last book yet. I can't wait to find out, I've been away for the last eight hours, and there's nothing more I want to do then to just hold her and never let her go. She's my forever, and my everything. She's all I'll ever need. I can't wait to continue spoiling her for the rest of our lives.