揌annah, honey, it抯 so nice to see you out here.?She nodded to her son. 揥yatt.?
揌i, Mom.?
They stared at each other while I bounced on the balls of my feet, and Elizabeth抯 eyes shimmered with excitement. 揑 didn抰 know you two were friends.?
揌e抯 teaching me how to surf,?I explained. 揂nd I抦 running his social media.?
Her eyebrows rose. 揧ou are? That抯 wonderful.?
I nodded and when she pulled out her phone, I showed her how to follow Wyatt抯 account. She scrolled through the page, shaking her head to herself with a smile. 揕ook at all these videos of you, Wy. So handsome.?
He put his hand on her shoulder. 揙kay. Time for you to leave.?
I laughed. 揥yatt.?
Elizabeth gave him a kiss on the cheek and winked at me. 揝ee you two later.?
The rest of the afternoon, Wyatt rang through the customers while Liya and I talked their ears off about books. Within two hours, the pile on the table was down to only a few books, so Liya watched the booth while Wyatt and I headed back to the store to gather more.
揟his is the most books we抳e sold in one day and it抯 not even lunch,?I told him as we carried the stacks back to the table.
揟hat抯 a good thing, isn抰 it??
We had made Liya抯 salary for the day and probably mine as well, not that I was paying myself these days. I抎 save that money for utilities.
揂 really good thing.?I glanced up at him as we paused to let a family pass. 揟hanks for doing this.?
He shrugged. 揑 just gave you the idea, bookworm. You抮e the one matching people up with their books.?
I couldn抰 help the smile that crossed my face. 揑t抯 my favorite part of my job.?
揑 can tell.?His gaze was warm and constant, and my stomach did a delicious roll forward.
When we returned to the booth, Beck was there, chatting with Liya.
揟here she is.?He gave me that sunny smile. 揌ey, Hannah.?To Wyatt, he nodded. 揥yatt.?
揃eck.?His tone was casual but clipped. It had a weird edge I hadn抰 heard from Wyatt before.
揑 was dropping by to tell you how much I抦 loving Pride and Prejudice.?Beck grinned down at me and gestured at the table. 揑 like what you抳e got going on here.?
My face heated. Despite Beck being so friendly, it was hard for me to meet his gaze. 揑t was all Wyatt抯 idea.?I nudged Wyatt and shot him a quick smile.
Beck抯 eyebrows lifted. 揘ice job, Wyatt.?
揟hanks.?His voice was still clipped. 揑s the clinic closed today or something??
揘ope. Just dropping by to chat with Hannah about our date.?Beck held eye contact with Wyatt and Wyatt stood up straighter.
I frowned. Something was off. A weird tension hung in the air.
Wyatt tilted his head, thinking. 揇id you order a book about making friends? I saw it on the receiving shelf. How to Make Friends With a Low Libido, something like that.?
I blinked at Wyatt. Neither Liya nor I had ordered that book in. Liya shot me a bemused look before turning to help another customer.
Beck gave him a strange look before shaking his head. 揘ope. I didn抰 order that.?
Wyatt rubbed his chin. 揌uh. Okay.?He shrugged. 揑 swear it was for you.?
Beck rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at me. 揑 have lots of friends and I don抰 have a low libido. It抯 normal. Everything is normal in that department.?He shook himself. 揟his is a weird conversation. Anyway, I was thinking we could take the boat out on the water and I could pack a picnic. How抯 Wednesday night? I don抰 work early on Thursdays at the clinic so we can stay out as late as we want.?
揑 can open on Thursday at the store,?Liya added from behind Beck before she turned back to the customer.
Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest. 揝he has surf lessons in the morning.?
One of Beck抯 eyebrows rose and my stomach lurched. He was just being nice and Wyatt was making it awkward. My stomach did a weird flip. Underneath it, though, there was an excited little flutter.
Was Wyatt jealous?
No. No way. Wyatt didn抰 get jealous. He only cared about surfing.
揥ednesday sounds good,?I told Beck with a nod.
He glanced between Wyatt and I before giving me a quick wink. 揝ee you then. I抣l pick you up??
揑抣l be coming straight from the bookstore. Meet you at the marina at seven??
揚erfect.?He smiled again. His teeth were so white against his tan, and his eyes were such a nice chocolate brown. He touched my elbow as he passed. 揌ave a good day, Hannah. Bye, Liya. Bye, Wyatt.?
揃ye, Beck!?Liya called after him.
I waved as he left before spinning to face Wyatt. 揥hat抯 up with you??
揘othing.?He shifted, still crossing his arms.
揑 thought Beck was your friend.?
揌e is.?He cleared his throat.
I narrowed my eyes at him. 揥hy are you being so weird??