He came in to peruse the latest installment of new releases, hoping something would pique his interest. He strolled up and down the aisles, carefully examining each cover that caught his eye. As he was turning the corner from the science fiction racks to the shelves of horror stories, he noticed her sitting at the little table in the back of the store. She was nursing a large latte from the coffee shop next door, and pouring herself into one of those trashy romance novels. She looked up when he chuckled, and he quickly diverted his eyes back to the Stephen King book in his hands, not wanting to seem like a creep. He read a few pages, knowing he wasn't going to buy a second copy of Four Past Midnight, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave the store.
He looked up after a few minutes, and she was still studying her soft core porn. Her dark auburn hair cascading down over her shoulders. Her silk blouse showing the shape of the pert, firm breasts that it was draped over, her hard nipples poking gently against the fabric. Her black flowing knee length skirt was gathered in her lap, pulled taught against her thighs, which were crossed one over the other, showing off her shapely calves. She had abandoned her high heels under the table, giving her feet a break from their workday constraints. She took another sip of coffee as she turned the page, looking around to see if anyone was watching her. She didn't notice him standing by the periodicals rack, watching her every move.
At 2:15 pm on a Tuesday, there weren't many people in Margie's New & Used Book Emporium. There was the college coed at the cash register, who couldn't care less about what was going on in the store, instead concentrating on her calculus homework and whatever new age band was pumping through the headphones from her iPod. There was the old man at the front table, happily flipping through today's edition of the Washington Post, though everyone knew he came in here daily to watch the cashier, not read the paper. And there were the two of them, in the back of the store, each trying not to let the other notice that each was checking the other out.
He picked up a copy of E&R magazine and sat at the other table in the back of the store, facing her from across the room. He appeared engrossed in an article about the new Oakland Bay Bridge, and went ten solid minutes without glancing across the room. When he looked up again, she was bent forward, hovering over the book as though she were the one studying calculus. She was holding the book on the table and open with her left hand, and her right was nestled in the folds of her skirt. He thought nothing of this until he realized her hand was moving, slowly and deliberately. He could just barely see this movement in the shadows under the table, and thought his imagination might be playing tricks on him. But, he noticed, her legs were no longer crossed at the thighs, but were slightly parted instead, with both bare feet on the floor. She looked up at him, and, before he could hide his amusement, she smiled. He grinned like the cat that ate the canary, knowing now that what he thought he saw was real. She leaned back in her chair and slid forward a bit, causing her erect nipples to strain against the silk of her blouse. She spread her legs wider, letting him get a good view of her fingers stroking her pantiless crotch. She flipped the book over, and gently rubbed and pinched her nipples with her newly freed hand. She was smiling and biting the corner of her lower lip.
She quickly sat upright, flipped her skirt back to a proper position, and grabbed her book. The mischievous look on her face was instantly replaced by one of studious interest as she began reading again. As he wondered why her games had ended, he saw the cashier turn the corner, heading for the restroom. She giggled, hiding her face behind her book, as the cashier disappeared down the hallway. When the cashier passed back by, returning to her studies and iPod, he walked over and sat across the table from her.
"You know, real life never happens the way those books do." He said, smiling at the fact that he had mustered the confidence to talk to such a beautiful woman.
"What a shame," she replied, "this one's about a man and woman who meet at a book store."
"Really? What happens?" he inquired.
