The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(23)

He sipped his beer and watched me with a warm gaze. “Updating the mural is a great idea.”

I clasped my hands together. “I don’t know. My dad would never go for it. All my ideas are kind of out there.”

He raised an amused eyebrow. “Even more out there than feathery lighting?”

My chest shook with laughter. “I said fluffy lighting. And yes, even more out there than that.” I hesitated. “I’d make the store into a romance-only bookstore.”

I waited for him to tell me this was a terrible idea, but he only crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head at me. “Because you like romance books?”

I shook my head, sucking in a breath and gathering my thoughts. “It’s more than that. Yes, I love romance books, but so do so many others. Romance is the number one selling genre. Every year, romance sells double the next highest genre, crime and thriller. Most bookstores have a couple shelves dedicated to romance, and you’re lucky if the staff read romance and can recommend books. People buy a lot of romance online because they either can’t get the books in stores, or they’re embarrassed.”

I leaned forward. “One time, Avery and I were in Victoria, and I went into a bookstore to see if they had a certain romance book, and the guy laughed at me.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

My nostrils flared and I swallowed. My stomach boiled at the memory. “He laughed at me, Wyatt, for wanting to read a book with a happy ending.” My eyes narrowed. “That guy was a dick.” I shrugged. “I want to create a space where people aren’t embarrassed to read books that make them happy. No women are killed in romance books the way they always seem to be in crime novels.” The champagne fizzed on my tongue again as I sipped it. “There are tons of regular bookstores on the island where people can buy other genres, not to mention overnight delivery services. If it were up to me, I’d create something special, unlike any other store around here. Besides, my store is kind of small. It would be so easy to fill it up with romance. I can always special order other books in for people who want them and don’t want to go to Port Alberni.” That was a larger town on the island that had a big bookstore.

I tipped the remainder of my drink back and realized that Wyatt and most of the people sitting near us watched me, listening. I froze and my face flushed.

“And that’s enough from me,” I said with a laugh. I cleared my throat. “That’s what I’d do with the store if I could.”

Wyatt rubbed his jaw. “You’ve thought a lot about it.”

A long sigh escaped me. “Well, the store has been kind of struggling, and my mind wanders sometimes.”

“Do you agree that your mom would want you to keep the store the same as she had it?”

My stomach clenched. My mom was like the store I wanted to create—bold, fun, silly, and wild.

“No,” I whispered. My throat was tight. “She’d love my ideas.” I lifted my gaze to his.

Wyatt shrugged and rubbed his thumb up and down the condensation on his beer. “Look, bookworm, for what it’s worth, if the store isn’t doing well, you need to change something.”

I wanted to, but in order to do that, I had to go against what my dad wanted. Panic and guilt clawed at me, so I changed the subject. “Are you nervous about Pacific Rim?”

He wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I’m not really thinking about it.”

“Why not?”

He sighed and hesitated, like he was organizing the thoughts in his head. “It won’t change anything, worrying about it. I’ll still go surfing every day. I’ll still give my A-game out there.” That lazy smile hitched. “You’ve got my sponsorship covered with social media.” He tilted his chin to my phone and I smiled in return.

“Say you did well, what would happen then?”

“I’d get a sponsorship and start traveling more. There are surf events all over the world, in Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii…” A crease formed between his eyebrows and he lost that lazy, amused smile. “I’d have to leave Queen’s Cove.”

“You’d miss it.”

The corner of his mouth hitched, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He’d miss it but he didn’t want to admit it. “No point in discussing what hasn’t happened yet.”

“Well, if you left Queen’s Cove, the town would miss you,” I told him.

He sat forward and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The screen lit up with an incoming call. Josie.

My stomach sunk and I frowned. Of course Wyatt had girls calling him.

“You can answer that if you want,” I told him. My voice sounded tight.

He declined the call and slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Not important.” He gestured to the stage. “What would you sing?”

“Spice Girls.” I answered before I even thought about it. I put both hands flat on the table and leaned forward. “I love Spice Girls, Wyatt. You have no idea.”

He leaned on his elbows towards me, our gazes locked. “Which Spice Girl are you?”

“I mean, I look like Baby Spice.” I pointed at my pale hair. “But I think deep down, I want to be Ginger. I mean,” I rolled my eyes. “Everybody wants to be Ginger. You could never find the Ginger Spice Barbie. She was the coolest, the bravest, and she didn’t care what people thought. She was so badass.” I sighed.