The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(32)

And now she was reading orc erotica.

Okay.

After Wyatt put Don’s book through, I was plugging my phone into a battery pack Liya had brought when Elizabeth, Wyatt’s mom, strolled past.

I gave her a quick wave. “Hi, Elizabeth.”

She was in her sixties, always wore a bold necklace, and stopped in the bookstore to buy a book or say hello or ask how my dad was doing. She wore a curious smile was she glanced between Wyatt and I.

“Hannah, honey, it’s so nice to see you out here.” She nodded to her son. “Wyatt.”

“Hi, Mom.”

They stared at each other while I bounced on the balls of my feet, and Elizabeth’s eyes shimmered with excitement. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“He’s teaching me how to surf,” I explained. “And I’m running his social media.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You are? That’s wonderful.”

I nodded and when she pulled out her phone, I showed her how to follow Wyatt’s account. She scrolled through the page, shaking her head to herself with a smile. “Look at all these videos of you, Wy. So handsome.”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “Okay. Time for you to leave.”

I laughed. “Wyatt.”

Elizabeth gave him a kiss on the cheek and winked at me. “See 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.

“This is the most books we’ve sold in one day and it’s not even lunch,” I told him as we carried the stacks back to the table.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

We had made Liya’s salary for the day and probably mine as well, not that I was paying myself these days. I’d save that money for utilities.

“A really good thing.” I glanced up at him as we paused to let a family pass. “Thanks for doing this.”

He shrugged. “I just gave you the idea, bookworm. You’re the one matching people up with their books.”

I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face. “It’s my favorite part of my job.”

“I 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.

“There she is.” He gave me that sunny smile. “Hey, Hannah.” To Wyatt, he nodded. “Wyatt.”

“Beck.” His tone was casual but clipped. It had a weird edge I hadn’t heard from Wyatt before.

“I was dropping by to tell you how much I’m loving Pride and Prejudice.” Beck grinned down at me and gestured at the table. “I like what you’ve got going on here.”

My face heated. Despite Beck being so friendly, it was hard for me to meet his gaze. “It was all Wyatt’s idea.” I nudged Wyatt and shot him a quick smile.

Beck’s eyebrows lifted. “Nice job, Wyatt.”

“Thanks.” His voice was still clipped. “Is the clinic closed today or something?”

“Nope. 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. “Did 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. “Nope. I didn’t order that.”

Wyatt rubbed his chin. “Huh. Okay.” He shrugged. “I swear it was for you.”

Beck rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at me. “I have lots of friends and I don’t have a low libido. It’s normal. Everything is normal in that department.” He shook himself. “This is a weird conversation. Anyway, I was thinking we could take the boat out on the water and I could pack a picnic. How’s Wednesday night? I don’t work early on Thursdays at the clinic so we can stay out as late as we want.”

“I 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. “She has surf lessons in the morning.”

One of Beck’s 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’t get jealous. He only cared about surfing.

“Wednesday sounds good,” I told Beck with a nod.

He glanced between Wyatt and I before giving me a quick wink. “See you then. I’ll pick you up?”

“I’ll be coming straight from the bookstore. Meet you at the marina at seven?”

“Perfect.” 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. “Have a good day, Hannah. Bye, Liya. Bye, Wyatt.”