A Sexy Time Of It
May 15, 2008 Manhattan
Linc Mathews plucked the shilling out of Neely's hand and scrutinized it. While she'd poured out the story of her visit to Mitre Square, he'd made them each an espresso at the coffee bar, and he'd listened to every word without interrupting.
They were seated opposite each other on leather couches in the front room of the brownstone. It had always been Neely's favorite room. Until her grandmother's death a year ago, the space had functioned as a formal parlor where Cornelia entertained her friends from the neighborhood. The coffee table separating Neely from Linc had been the site of countless Scrabble games and hands of euchre. She'd even been invited to participate in them.
Now the room provided a cozy setting for the bookstore that she and Linc had created and named Bookends. The idea for the bookstore had been born out of desperation. When Cornelia had become ill a year and a half ago, Neely had taken a leave of absence from her graduate work in library science to nurse her grandmother.
Although she'd been aware that the illness was draining Cornelia financially as well as physically, she hadn't realized the seriousness of the sit ... read full excerpt from A Sexy Time of It ebook