CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE

Chapter Fourteen: Enter Ben

Couldn't be avoided!

We should get dinner soon, all three of us.

Ugh. The last time we'd done that his girlfriend had glared at me across the table all night, clearly worried that something had happened between me and Dave, which nothing ever had.

Yeah, for sure! Hey, I didn't know you knew Rachel.

Rachel?

Rachel Wise? I think she's dating Ben Hamilton? I bite my lip nervously.

Oh, right. You know Ben?

We've met.

Small town.

Right? I wait for him to write more but he doesn't. So, Rachel?

Oh, yeah. Nice girl.

Are she and Ben dating goddammit??

Where did you meet them? Dave writes.

Ugh. Them. They are together. Despite what Ben said. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

I met Ben a couple of weeks back. NBD. Anyways, got to run, but let's hang soon!

Most def.

I throw my phone down, wanting to scream. This is what everyone warned me about, but did I listen?

Nope. Not one little bit.

###

I spend the next day at work going back and forth on what I should do, while I sort through a pile of books to try to triage down the selections for our next book picks. We pick the books four months before they're announced so we have time to print our special editions and the publishers have time to adjust their sales in other channels. The BookBox can make a book, and when we pick one, it's good for everyone.

Right now I'm picking for October, and that's when Christmas books start to appear. I've got three of them in front of me, with nearly identical plots and covers.

I hold them up. "All I Want for Christmas? Starry Night? Or Jingle Bell Rocked?"

Addison scowls. She hates Christmas almost as much as she hates romance. "Let me guess, a twenty-something who's just broken up with her boyfriend goes home for Christmas and re-meets her high school boyfriend who's hotter and nicer than he was ten years ago?"

"Ding, ding, ding."

"Dysfunctional families and snarky sisters."

"Of course! Bonus question: which one of these features a same-sex couple?"

She squints. The books usually have the couples drawn on the cover so that question is easy to answer. But none of these do. Instead, each of them has some version of a Nancy Meyer's house with a wreath on the door.

"None of them?"

"No, they all do!"

Addison shakes her head. "Huh. They trying to hide that with those covers?"

"Unclear."

Jameela pops her head up. She's been deep in some drama involving the #Polin stans (the name for Colin and Penelope, the love story from the fourth book but the third season—long story) and those who are rooting for Rene-Jean Page to come back to the show on a regular basis. "If they aren't out and proud, then I say ditch them."

"I agree," Addison says.

"But the covers aren't the author's fault. Should we really ditch them just for that?"