by Deanna Chase
“Excellent. Thanks for stopping by. I hope it was well worth the effort,” Yvette said.
“Oh, sweetie, you have no idea.” She flashed a wicked little smile before shuffling back over to Jacob and her mob of friends fawning all over him.
Yvette turned to Brinn, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Can you believe this?”
Brinn laughed. “Yes. Have you not spent any time down at the bingo hall? The ladies spend a lot of time talking about the hotties in town.”
“No, I can’t say that I have. If I’d known they were all going to go gaga over Jacob, I’d have turned this meet-and-greet into a catered party.”
“Now that’s an idea,” Brinn said as she smiled at another one of the bingo hall ladies.
The woman’s arms were overflowing with books and as Yvette helped her stack them on the counter, she wasn’t surprised to see all four of Miranda Moon’s among the pile. Jacob was really working at moving that inventory.
It was another half-hour before Yvette took pity on Jacob and decided to rescue him from his newest fans. And she was just in time too. As she was making her way over to the group, she spied Ms. Betty slipping her arm around Jacob’s waist. He smiled at her patiently, but then she leaned in, giving him a side hug, and covertly slipped her hand down to his butt and squeezed.
He let out a yelp and jumped back, nearly knocking over the freshly-dyed redhead who was standing on his left-hand side.
“Betty, for goodness sake, what are you trying to do, get the young man all worked up?” the redhead said. “You know you can’t just go grabbing them in public. It makes them too excited. Don’t you remember what happened to Billy Blue when you did that to him a couple of years ago? His pecker stood straight up, and he was forever known as Billy Blue Balls until he moved to Eureka.” She patted Jacob’s arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. “You wouldn’t want Jacob here ending up with a name like Jack in the Pants just because you couldn’t keep your magical hands to yourself, now would you?”
Jacob let out an audible groan.
“See, now he’s uncomfortable,” the redhead said, eyeing his groin area. “Though I’m not seeing much evidence of a wood—”
“Okay, ladies,” Yvette said, slipping in between Jacob and Ms. Betty. “I hate to break up the party, but it’s already after closing hours, and Jacob and I still have some work to do before we head out for the evening. Are there any last-minute items anyone needs before we lock up?”
“Oh, gosh. Time sure does fly when you’re flirting with your new favorite bookseller,” Ms. Betty said. “Girls, we better get going, otherwise George over at the bingo hall is going to put out an APB on us.”
The women milled about, calling their goodbyes to Jacob as they slowly made their way out of the store. When the last one finally exited, Yvette waved goodbye, thanked them for coming in, and then shut and locked the door. After flipping the sign to closed, she turned and eyed Jacob, who was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs with his forearm covering his eyes.
She glanced over at Brinn where she was closing out the register, and they both started to laugh.
“I can hear you,” he said.
His statement only made them laugh harder.
“You two are despicable,” he said, but Yvette could hear the humor in his tone.
She crossed the room and took a seat next to him. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have laughed.”
He put his arm down and looked at her. “Why not? It was funny as hell.”
“You were sexually assaulted by a seventy-something-year-old woman, and we didn’t do anything.”
“Sure, you did. You got them out of here.” He pushed himself out of the chair and got to his feet. “Don’t worry about it. I can handle it.” He started to move back toward the offices, but she gently grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Let me at least make it up to you. Dinner? We can head over to Woodlines for some seafood, maybe share a bottle of wine?”
He lowered his gaze to where her hand was resting on his arm. Then he looked up and said, “Is this one of those dates we said we wouldn’t go on?”
She quickly dropped her hand and shook her head. “Consider it a business dinner. We can talk about ways to get more locals in that don’t involve pimping you out to the senior citizen crowd.”
He chuckled. “That’s a compelling argument. All right, I’m in.”
“Excellent. Let me just grab my things, and we can go.”
They both retreated to their offices and met back at the front door, outerwear in hand. Yvette glanced over at Brinn. “Are you good? Do you need anything before we go?”
She waved them off. “I’m just about set. Enjoy your dinner. I’ll lock up as usual.”
“Thanks,” Yvette said. “G’night.”
“Night, Brinn. Thanks for everything today,” Jacob added.
“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once they were out on the street, Jacob glanced at the bike Yvette had left in the rack to the left of the entrance. “You’re not riding that home tonight.”
“Why not?” she asked. “My place isn’t that far.”
“It’s too foggy. Unlock it and I’ll put it in the back of my truck. I’ll drop you off after dinner.”
She glanced around at the thickening fog and knew it would likely only get worse. “Yeah, okay.”
After they got the bike secured in the truck, Jacob opened the passenger door for her.
She couldn’t help the warm, fuzzy feeling that blossomed in her chest. It had been a long time since she’d been out with anyone so gentlemanly. “Thank you,” she said as she climbed in.
He hurried around to the other side and a few moments later, they were headed down toward the other end of Main Street. “So, this non-date… do we have ground rules?” he asked as he made sure to point one of the heater vents in her direction.
“Just that I’m paying. It’s only fair since you had to endure the bingo ladies.”
“That’s the only ground rule?” he asked, raising one curious eyebrow.
“Well, besides the obvious. No groping, leering, or inappropriate sexual innuendo,” she said.
“How about flirting?” he asked as he pulled the truck into a space right in front of Woodlines.
“A little flirting is fine,” she said with a laugh. There was no reason to turn this into a sterile business meeting. She did after all, really enjoy their banter.
“How do you feel about sharing dessert? Can our forks cross?”
She snorted her amusement. “Now you’re just being silly. Of course, your fork has to stay on your side of the plate, but I will share my pie with you.”
“Pie. Interesting,” he said with a small smirk.
“Hey!” She pointed a finger at him. “I said no inappropriate sexual innuendo.”
“You started it.” He jumped out of the truck and jogged around to her side, opening the door before she even got her seatbelt unbuckled.
She took the hand he held out for her and let him help her down out of the truck. When her feet were planted firmly on the ground, his fingers tightened around hers as he closed the door and then led her toward the restaurant. Yvette glanced down at their entwined fingers and knew she should pull her hand away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. There was comfort in his touch, a comfort that she hadn’t known she’d missed until that moment.
It didn’t take long for them to be seated. Weeknights in early January in Keating Hollow were almost always low key, and that night was no exception. They sat across from each other, drinking wine and eating crab cakes while laughing about the bingo babes who’d fawned all over him for almost an hour.
“Your ego must’ve gotten quite a boost,” Yvette said and took a sip of wine.
“Definitely. That was right about when you turned into a green-eyed monster and forced all of your competition out into the cold.”
Yvette threw her head back and laughed. She couldn’t remember the last time sh
e’d been so relaxed and had just plain enjoyed herself when she’d been out with a man. Even though she and Isaac had only begun having problems a few months earlier, they hadn’t had a fun night out in a very long time. A night that was full of friendship, laughter, and pure joy.
Had they ever had this much fun together? She knew they must’ve at some point, but she sure couldn’t remember any in recent history.
“You know, it’s really fun hanging out with you,” Jacob said, taking a forkful of her blueberry pie.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” Yvette wrapped her hands around her latte. “Do you think we should talk about the store? About how to get more locals in?”
“Sure.” He picked up his coffee mug and sat back in his chair. “What do you think about having Bingo Club Thursdays? We could get Hanna to make bingo card cupcakes.”
Yvette grinned. “Are you part of the jackpot? ‘Cause you know the main reason they’d come back is to see you jump when Ms. Betty gets inappropriate again.”
Jacob grimaced, and an involuntary shudder ran through him. “No, definitely not. But I’ll stick around and charm them as long as you protect me from any roving hands.”
“Deal.” She raised her mug to his in a toast.
“Now, who are you going to entertain?” he asked.
She shrugged. “No one wants to ogle me. But if I had Book Club Tuesdays paired with wine tastings, I bet we could draw a crowd of overworked, sleep-deprived adults for a couple hours. Plus, there’s always Saturday afternoon story time. That gets the parents bringing their kids in.”
“Sounds perfect. We’ll put those three things on the schedule along with at least one book signing a month, and I’d imagine we’re looking at twenty to thirty percent growth in the next six months.”
“You’re very optimistic,” she said, not bothering to hide her skepticism. She had no doubt that regular meetings in the store and signings would help, she just didn’t think they’d have near the impact he expected.
“You think so?” he asked as if he was reconsidering. Then he said, “Nah. We’ll have the café up and running too.”
“We’re probably going to need part time help, especially since my assistant Dannika’s maternity leave started this week,” she said, already calculating what that would do to the payroll budget.
“Let’s see how we do without that expense for now. I’ll take care of the café if you’ll pick up the slack on the retail side. And if we really need to, we can ask Brinn if she’ll put in a few extra hours until Dannika comes back to work.”
“Deal!” She offered him her hand for them to shake on it.
Jacob wrapped his fingers around hers, but instead of the traditional handshake, he held on lightly and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.
Tingles sent gooseflesh up her arm, and she closed her eyes as she reveled in his gentle touch. When she finally opened them, she found him studying her, his lips curved into a hint of a smile.
“What?” she asked.
“I was just thinking that I wish I’d met you before we went into business together, because I’m not quite sure I’m going to be able to walk away tonight when I take you home.”
Heat washed over her, and she was certain that her entire body had flushed crimson. She opened her mouth, shut it, and then just shook her head.
“You know what, Yvette?” he asked, his voice suddenly raspy. “Your reaction tells me that you don’t want me to leave you alone tonight.”
She cleared her throat and shook her head. “You aren’t supposed to be flirting with me, Jacob.”
He let out a low chuckle, his eyes never leaving hers. “I’m not flirting, Yvette. I’m trying to seduce you.”
Oh, hell, she thought as her body came alive and every inch of her seemed to ache for his touch again. Reluctantly, she pulled her hand from his and said, “You’re coloring outside the lines, Jacob. Remember the ground rules?”
He propped his elbows on the table and leaned in closer. “I can already tell that rules are going to be broken. It’s not a matter of if… it’s just a matter of when.”
Yvette got to her feet and stared down at him. “I’m not exactly a rule breaker.”
He laughed. “I highly doubt that.”
“You’ll see.” She strode away from the table just to get a little distance. Jacob had a way of sucking her into his orbit, and she could already tell that if she wasn’t careful, she’d forget all about her rules and end up right in the middle of something messy.
“Is everything okay, Yvette?” Wyatt, their waiter, asked as she nearly bumped right into him.
“Yep.” She smiled. “Dinner was wonderful. I just needed some air. But since I have you here, let me go ahead and take care of the check.”
“It’s already taken care of,” he said.
“What?” She glanced over her shoulder at Jacob, who was watching her from his place at the table. He flashed her a triumphant smile, and she gritted her teeth as she shook her head at him. Then she turned back to Wyatt. “Never mind. It was great. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. You two lovebirds come back real soon, okay?” He hurried off to take care of another table of customers before she could correct him. Of course, he’d made the assumption they were together. They’d been holding hands and making googly eyes at each other all night.
Damn. There was no question about it—she was doomed.
Jacob appeared beside her and whispered, “Ready for me to take you home?”
“Yes,” she breathed, knowing she sounded like she couldn’t wait for him to rip her clothes off. She sucked in air and forced herself to reiterate, “But don’t get any ideas. The evening ends at my front door.”
“Whatever you say, Yvette.” He clasped his hand around hers and led her back outside to his truck. The air had turned downright cold, and she shivered as the foggy mist seemed to permeate right through her clothes. “You’re freezing.” Jacob hurried her into the truck and ran around to his side. In just moments, he had the heat blasting and was headed back the other way toward her house.
“Dinner was excellent,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He flashed her a smile. “The food was great, and the wine was better, but my favorite part was making you laugh. You light up from the inside out, and I don’t mind telling you, it’s captivating.”
Had he really called her captivating? What an incredible compliment. Her first instinct was to brush him off, tell him to stop flattering her, but she stopped herself. There wasn’t anything but sincerity in his expression, and as she gazed at him, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She pressed a hand to her abdomen and said, “Thank you. I think that might be the best compliment I’ve ever received.”
“I’m just stating the truth.”
A comfortable silence fell between them for the rest of the ride. Once Jacob pulled his truck to a stop in her driveway, he jumped out, retrieved her bike, and helped her store it in the garage. Then he walked her to her door.
“I hate to say it, but I’m not inviting you in tonight,” Yvette said.
His lips twitched into a small smile. “Tonight? That implies, if I give it a little time, I’ve still got a shot.”
She laughed. “You’re relentless.”
“Not usually, but some people are worth the effort.”
Yvette’s insides turned to complete mush, and she wondered how she was going to continue to resist him when he was so adorable.
“Don’t worry, Yvette,” he said as he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her in close. “I hear you loud and clear.”
“It sure doesn’t feel like it,” she said, breathless and more than a little dazzled.
“Trust me, I do.” He slowly leaned down, bringing his lips just inches from hers. “Do you mind if I kiss you goodnight?”
Her gaze locked on his full lips, and the last of her resolve vanished. Rather than answering, she closed the distance and kissed him instead.
“Goodnight, Yvette,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She was speechless as she watched him retreat to his truck, climb in, and drive away. Standing on her front porch with the cold air making her shiver, she stared at the taillights and knew without a doubt that Jacob Burton was, one way or another, going to break her heart.
Chapter 11
“I think we’re ready,” Brinn said, eyeing the signing area Yvette had set up for Miranda Moon. “We just need the author and a line of readers, and we’ll be all set.”
Yvette leaned against the checkout counter and took a sip of the latte Jacob had made for her while she tried to ignore her anxiety over the upcoming weekend. “You think anyone will show up?”
Brinn gave Yvette her signature you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me eye roll. “You’ve passed out postcards to every business within a sixty-mile radius, sent out two newsletters to the store’s contact list, blasted social media, and managed to get the biggest radio station over in Eureka to hype the event multiple times. If that media blitz and the festival itself don’t bring them in, nothing will.”
“Oh, my!” Ms. Betty said as she emerged from the romance aisle, her arms laden with a stack of Kristen Painter paranormal romances. “It looks wonderful. I love how you’ve set up book displays by similar authors. I came in today because I loved those Miranda Moon books Jacob recommended. I couldn’t wait to pick up more like them.”
“That’s what we like to hear,” Yvette said with a smile, relieving the woman of her haul.
Brinn slipped behind the counter and started to ring up Ms. Betty’s purchases while Yvette packed them in a canvas bag with the Hollow Books logo.
“Don’t you worry about the turn-out tomorrow,” Ms. Betty said. She placed a wrinkled hand on Yvette’s arm, leaned in, and whispered, “I’ve been spreading the word about your handsome partner around town, and the ladies are dying to check him out. Our entire Eureka book club plans to be here. They couldn’t resist after I told them how firm his buns are.”