Page 14 of Safe With You

“Mostly, yeah. Crowd interaction, performances, bookstore atmosphere. Stuff like that.”

“Got you.”

I scribbled something down on the notepad in front of me even though I already knew the information.

“There’ll also be a featured spoken word artist closing out the night around nine.”

“Perfect.” I heard him typing again. “How’s the lighting in the space?”

“Depends where you are.” I glanced toward the bookstore floor through the office window. “The front is fine, but the café area in the back gets a little dim once it gets late.”

“Okay. I’ll probably bring additional lighting just in case.”

“Thank you,” I said honestly. “This whole thing came together a little faster than expected.”

“That’s usually how events go.”

I laughed softly before I could stop myself. “That obvious?”

“A little.”

There was a brief pause after that.

“Naomi said you’ve done community events before.”

“Yeah. A few poetry nights, art showcases, stuff like that.”

“Well hopefully this one runs smoothly.”

“I’m sure it will.”

I checked the clock on the wall and blinked slightly when I realized almost fifteen minutes had passed already.

That definitely hadn’t been intentional.

“Well,” I said, sitting back in the chair, “I think that’s everything on my end.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll email over the finalized schedule tonight.”

“Sounds good.”

A small pause followed.

Then:

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” I answered. “Tomorrow.”

After we hung up, I stared at my phone for a second before setting it down on the desk.

The conversation hadn’t been flirty. But it had been easy. And somehow, after everything with Lucas, that felt extraordinary enough.

Right on cue, Naomi appeared in the doorway.

“Well?”