Th閞鑣e flickered into my mind. I bet she held the power with men all the time.
揑f you won抰 practice with me,?I said, keeping my voice casual as I pulled the suit on, 搈aybe Beck will.?
That was a low blow. Wyatt had admitted he was jealous and here I was, exploiting that. Wyatt was always so cool and careless, and I got a glimpse of another side of him in my bedroom the other night.
I wanted more of that version of him. Passionate, desperate, needy. Like he cared about something. Me. He wanted me, as much as I would give him.
I wanted more of that.
He turned, took a step toward me, and glared down at me. 揇o not do that, bookworm.?
揇o what? Make out with Beck??
His jaw ticked. I gave him an innocent smile and blinked a few times. He made an angry noise in his throat and turned me around before he yanked the zipper up. 揌ow does it fit.?He spat the words out like a statement, and I suppressed another grin.
I had turned the most easy-going guy in town into a cranky asshole.
I rolled my shoulders and moved my arms around. 揊its great. Way better than the rental one I was using.?When I turned, his gaze had softened a little from the hard glare. 揟hank you, Wyatt.?I reached out and gave his arm a quick squeeze.
I hadn抰 finished teasing him yet. I let my hand linger on his bare skin.
揧our skin is always so warm. Did you know that??
He didn抰 answer me, but his throat worked as he swallowed, staring down at me with an expression on his face like he was in pain. He gave me a tiny shrug.
I nodded, letting my hand skim down his arm before I pulled it back. 揟hat was the first thing I noticed when you kissed me. How warm you were.?
I fought to hold eye contact with him. Deep in my brain, a version of myself was squealing and rolling on the floor at my boldness. A different version of me shushed her and gave me an encouraging wink.
Wyatt抯 jaw was so tight, his frown so intense as he stared down at me. His fists clenched at his sides.
揌ave you done your homework yet??His voice was low and tight, and I thought about another thing he had said in my bedroom.
I know, baby. I know.
I shivered and shook my head. 揟onight.?
I was talking about the date. It was Monday, and I was going for a solo dinner at The Arbutus.
And of course, there was the other part of my homework. The thing I was supposed to do after by myself in my bed. The thing I had of course done many times before.
But this time would be different. I knew it.
I shivered again and a heaviness settled between my legs. I was nervous but I was also?excited? Was he going to ask me about it after? The thought should have terrified me but instead, it sent a new series of shivers down my spine.
I sighed and smiled at him before I tucked my bag into a lower shelf and walked through the door.
揂re you coming??I called over my shoulder to where he stood. 揥e have waves to catch, Professor.?
I would pride myself for a long time in not laughing at his agonized expression when I called him that.
After lunch that afternoon, the bookstore was quiet so I pulled out my laptop and watched old footage of last year抯 Pacific Rim. The competition was always on Labor Day weekend, and it was the last rush of tourists before the cooler fall months. All weekend, surfers walked down the main street to the beach, wetsuits on and boards tucked under arms. I didn抰 watch the competition last year but instead chose to work in the store.
This year, you wouldn抰 be able to drag me from it. We抎 close the store if we had to.
My dad wouldn抰 be back until October. Hesitation pressed on my chest. I missed him, of course. Evenings at home had been even quieter recently without him sitting on the other sofa, reading his own book.
I rolled my mouth into a flat line and glanced at the little white square sticking out of the iPad I had bought for the store. We had gone back to the farmer抯 market each Saturday, selling more and more books each time. A few tourism accounts had reposted some of my content, including one of Liya at the market talking to a customer, and it drove business to us.
On Don抯 blog, he had written a detailed review of each orc erotica book in the series. A website in Victoria had found it hilarious and reposted it, and we had sold out of all the books in the series. A new shipment was due to arrive the next day. Selling orc porn to my dentist was mortifying but I wasn抰 in the business of sex shaming people.
I was in the business of selling romance novels.
The romance section of the store grew with every shipment. Most of my social media posts revolved around romance, because that抯 what Liya and I read, and that抯 what we liked talking about. Each book I posted about sold out within a week.