The Prince and the Bookworm

Chapter 46

"When I said I'd do anything, I didn't mean this." Dallas grumbled, leaning his back against mine in exasperation.

"It's not that bad." I denied with a laugh, pushing him off of me with my elbow. "Trust me, I could have made your punishment much worse."

"How is being forced to work at your mom's bookstore for no pay not that bad? It's Friday night, Sadie. Unlike you, I actually have a life." Dallas complained, thumbing through a book that was sitting on the counter.

"It's just for tonight." I reminded him while I rolled my eyes. "Besides, don't think of it as a punishment. Think of it as helping my mom out."

My mom had to go out a town to pick up an order of books. She was going to be gone until at least 10, so I enlisted Dallas' help in watching the store until closing. The only reason he wasn't getting paid was cause I was giving him the punishment he deserved for his barf inducing accusations about Adam and I.

"Does your mom even know about this?"

"Nope." I replied quickly, popping the p. If she did know, she would have insisted that Dallas get paid.

But I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Then how am I helping her-"

"Shut up." I ordered with an affectionate smile, holding a finger up to his lips. His words immediately faltered as his eyes went from my finger to my eyes. He must have seen the playful glint in them, because he returned the smile. "Look on the bright side," I said, grabbing the book out of his hands. "At least you get to spend some time with me."

"If that's a bright side, then I must live a very disappointing life." Dallas muttered. I heard him, but I chose not to acknowledge his jab. Instead, I started to skim through the pages. Unconsciously, I had turned my back to him so I could lean my hip up against the counter. He must have thought that I had been offended because he stepped closer to brush his shoulder against mine.

"I was kidding you know." He said softly, leaning down to set his forearms on the counter. He turned his head to the side to give me a thoughtful look.

"I know." I said with an indifferent shrug of my shoulders. I was still leafing through the hardback book, refusing to meet Dallas' eyes. I wasn't really mad at him. But if he thought I was, why not play along? I wouldn't be any fun if I didn't.

My plan must have been working too, because out of the corner of my eye I saw him frown.

"Then why are acting like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like that." He said, as though emphasizing the word would clear everything up.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to sound irritated, but I was never one to act well. I was a born to be bookworm, not a freaking actress. I started to walk away, and for a second I thought I had actually pulled it off. But only a couple seconds later, I heard him jog up behind me before I felt both of his hands tickling my sides.

"Stop....it!" I got out in between loud laughter. I quickly shot around to face him and placed my hand on his chest to get him to stop. I tried to push him away, but he was easily twice as strong as me and didn't even budge. His tickling finally stalled for half a second and I mustered up my strength to once again push him as hard as I could. Using both hands, I finally got him to stumble backwards a couple of steps. "Don't." I ordered breathlessly, trying to wipe the grin of my face. "I'm mad at you."

"Nice try." Dallas laughed airily. It was then that I realized he had been playing me just as much as I had been trying to play him. "If you wanna convince me you gotta do better than that." He stepped closer so that we were only mere inches apart. As I studied him, his eyebrows lifted slightly and a certain smile crossed over his face. If I didn't know any better I would have said it was almost... flirtatious.