She lifted one eyebrow. 揥ill you wear it??
I nodded. 揝ure.?Alone in my bedroom, maybe.
This seemed to satisfy her, so she stood and squeezed me tight in a hug. 揂u revoir, Hannah. I抣l be back in September.?
揃ye. Enjoy being a muse.?
揑 always do.?She flashed me an effortless smile over her shoulder.
I followed her around the corner and my stomach dropped through the floor.
Wyatt Rhodes leaned on the front desk, reading the orc erotica with a small smile. My stomach lurched.
Th閞鑣e disappeared out the door with the bell chime, and I raced over to Wyatt and reached to snatch the book from his hand, but he held it out of my reach.
揗ay I please have that back??I asked, trying to keep my voice polite. The panic rose through, though.
揝o you do see me.?He shot me an amused look before reading from the book. 揧euk and Gragol thrust their thick, monstrous members into Lady Nicoletta in tandem. Her cries of pleasure and delight echoed throughout the mountains棓
Oh my god.
揥yatt.?I reached again for the book, but he turned away from me.
His eyebrows shot up and I was close enough to see how gray his eyes were. 揧ou even know my name.?
I rolled my eyes. 揙f course I know your name. Now, give me the book.?
揕ady Nicoletta抯 feminine cavern began to quake with the force of her pleasure棓
I grabbed for the book again, brushing his arm and practically hugging him from behind. My fingers made contact with the book, and I snatched it away before straightening up. My face was on fire once again.
I cleared my throat and set the book back on the pile. 揝omething I can help you with??
揑抦 here for the orc erotica.?
I gave him a flat look and he returned it with a lazy, amused grin. No doubt, he could see how red my face was.
揈lizabeth asked me to pick her book up for her. She抯 in Victoria until this evening and wanted to start it tonight. She said you told her it was in this morning.?
Victoria was the nearest city, a three-hour drive away. Wyatt抯 mother, Elizabeth, a warm and funny woman, had ordered in a historical romance I had recommended the month before. It had been on back-order from the publisher for a few weeks.
I located the book on the shelf behind me where we kept the special orders and handed it to him. 揝he抯 already paid.?
揋reat.?His gaze skimmed me, and I felt naked.
This was the difference between hot people like Th閞鑣e and Wyatt, and myself. I peeked at people around bookshelves, shot quick glances when they weren抰 looking. Wyatt and Th閞鑣e stared openly, with zero shame or embarrassment.
One side of Wyatt抯 mouth hitched. 揟hanks, Hannah.?
It was the first time I抎 ever heard him say my name. We抎 gone to the same elementary school and the same high school, and now we both lived in our tiny coastal town of Queen抯 Cove as adults, and not once had he said my name. The guy didn抰 notice me most of the time because he was out surfing and I was here, in this musty old bookstore my mom had opened when I was a baby.
The memory of his hand on my lower back seared into my mind. Wyatt and I were the witnesses at Avery抯 wedding last year. She married Wyatt抯 brother, Emmett. When we signed the marriage certificate, Wyatt抯 hand came to my lower back and he nudged me forward with a wink.
I still shivered, thinking about how warm his hand had been on my back, even through the fabric of my dress. The quick, roguish grin he had flashed me while I stood, mouth hanging open.
And now he was here in my old bookstore, standing shirtless with all his muscles and damp hair.
揧ou can抰 be shirtless in here,?I blurted out. 揑t抯 a health hazard.?
He raised an amused eyebrow. 揂 health hazard.?
My face heated and I said the first thing that came to mind. 揧ou could get hair in the books.?
What?
揑 could get hair?in the books,?he repeated, rolling his lips to hide a smile.
揧ep. Chest hair.?
He snorted and I wanted to sink into this ugly carpet from the nineties.
揥ell, in that case, I抣l be going.?He turned and headed to the door, his network of back muscles moving as he walked. 揕et me know if you find any chest hairs, I抣l come get them.?
He disappeared out the door and I could breathe again.
I spent the next few minutes clearing space in the romance section for the orc erotica. The romance section was growing and took up more shelves than crime and thrillers. That thought made me smug. The previous year, the romance and erotica industry had made double what crime and thrillers had made. Romance novels accounted for half our measly sales.
I wished we could only sell romance novels, but my dad wouldn抰 like that. He didn抰 have anything against romance novels themselves, he just didn抰 want to change anything about the store. The store was my mom抯， and if we changed it, well, that was practically spitting on her grave.