Read Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) for Free Online

him, you'd
    feel better about what you had to do,” he
    said.
    She glanced at Sebastian's mouth
    again,
    not
    feeling
    disgusted,
    but
    strangely intrigued. He wasn't movie star
    handsome, but striking, in a brooding
    sort of way. A small thrill sparked
    through her veins and she shoved the
    book back. “He may not be a troll, but
    that doesn't make him any less dead.”
    “He's not—”
    “Cursed. Whatever.” She waved
    his argument away. “So, how old was he
    when he was... you know?” Prince
    Sebastian appeared rather young in the
    picture; older than her seventeen years,
    but still young. Of course, it could've
    been drawn years before he was cursed.
    “He was twenty-five. Young,
    right? Especially when you consider all
    the discoveries he made. He was a
    genius . Did you know—”
    The bell over the door rang
    again, and she slid out of the booth to get
    back to work. “Sorry, duty calls.”
    Anything to get out of hearing mind-
    numbing facts about potions and potion
    masters.
    The excitement that sparked in
    his eyes, as he babbled on about Prince
    Sebastian, died out when she got up. He
    tried to smile it off, but it was a weak
    attempt.
    Guilt gripped her heart as she
    watched her cousin fumble to open a
    thick book in order to save face. “Hey,
    I'd love to learn more about the guy I'm
    going to make out with. Can you lend me
    one to read?”
    His eyes lit up again as he
    handed her the book with the charcoal
    picture. “This one has the most
    information about his life outside his
    lab. Nothing about Leviena, though. I'll
    bring you one of her diaries, if you want
    to read about that.”
    She nodded and took the book.
    She plastered a smile on her face to
    greet the new customers. It dropped
    when Garren and his entourage walked
    in.
    “Serving wench, your services
    are
    required.
    Post-haste.”
    Keith,
    Garren's best friend, played Othello in
    last year's school play and ever since
    then he thought he was a professional
    Shakespearian actor. He snapped his
    fingers at her and led Morgan and
    Bonnie to a booth.
    “I've gotta talk to Thing for a
    minute. Be right back,” Garren said to
    Keith. Thane stiffened at the nickname
    Garren and his friends used for him.
    “So, is she going to do it?”
    Garren asked, tilting his head in her
    direction.
    Making herself stand a little
    taller, she narrowed her eyes at the
    annoying boy. “ She has a name, and
    she 's standing right here.” She just
    agreed to this crazy scheme and already
    he was on her last nerve.
    Garren turned to face her and
    cocked his head to the side. After a
    moment of silence passed between them,
    he caved. “Well?”
    She nodded once.
    A look of excitement flashed in
    his eyes. “We'll need to go to Irene's
    tomorrow to buy some supplies for the
    trip, but my car's busted again, so we
    can't—” He stopped talking and stared at
    her. “What happened to your neck?”
    “I fell. You were saying?”
    “It's a good thing I'm helping on
    this quest, or you'd both end up falling
    into some deep, dark hole, killing
    yourselves.” He ran his hands over his
    face and sighed. “I'm going to have my
    hands full keeping you two alive, I just
    know it.”
    “Get—to—your—point,”
    she
    said through gritted teeth. Between her
    and Garren, only one of them was going
    to make it back alive.
    “We can't use my car, so we'll
    have to use yours,” he said to Thane,
    who had risen from his seat to stand next
    to her.
    “Mine's no good. My mom's
    borrowing it for a few weeks,” he said.
    Both boys regarded her, as if she
    was going to volunteer the use of her
    imaginary car.
    “Sorry, but we won't all fit on
    my skateboard.”
    “What about Mr. McGregor's
    car? I know he'll be out of town
    tomorrow to sell a bunch of crap with
    my dad. We'll just borrow it and be back
    before they are. No problem,” Garren
    said with a shrug.
    It felt like a lead weight dropped
    in the pit of her stomach. Mr. McGregor
    would kill her if she took