The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(9)

Something shifted in her gaze and she chewed her lip. Her eyes met mine. I had always thought her eyes were blue but there were shades of green in them, too. “Sort of.”

Now she could really knock me over with a feather. What was going on in this bookworm’s head?

“I want you to teach me how to be a hot girl.”

I stared at her, confused and speechless and uncertain.

She waved her hands to clarify. “You know a lot of hot girls. You sleep around a lot.”

I reared back with an amused grin. “That sounded a little sex-shamey to me.”

She shook her head adamantly, eyes wide behind her glasses. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, you know what all these women have in common. You only sleep with hot girls.”

My expression was a mixture of surprise and amusement. Is this what people thought of me? She was right that I didn’t care what people thought. That seemed to help in the hookup department.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I want you to teach me how to be like that.”

“Like me?”

She nodded again. “Like you.”

My eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Her mouth hitched to the side. “It isn’t any of your business.”

I snorted. “I’ll make my own assumptions, then. You’re sick of hiding in that dark bookstore all day and want to meet someone.”

Her eyes widened. Bingo.

“I’m turning thirty soon.” She twisted her fingers together. “It’s time to make some changes.”

My eyebrows pinched together. She didn’t need to change a thing. She was adorable, with her pretty eyes and sweet little mouth. Even her glasses were cute in that dorky-girl way. The collar of her sweater pulled to the side and a pale pink bra strap peeked out, and my gaze raked down her form. At Emmett’s wedding, I was going to ask her to dance but every time I tried, she had disappeared.

A pang of regret hit me in the chest. I should have asked her to dance at the wedding.

Her wanting to change bummed me out. Lots of guys in town would jump at the chance with her, but she didn’t realize that. She just needed to leave her store once in a while.

There was no way to tell her this without sounding condescending, though. I stood there, crossing my arms over my chest, studying her while she looked like she was about to bolt if I spoke too loud or made any sudden movements.

A tiny, tiny part of me wanted to do this. Something about her had me curious. The quiet determination under her meek little exterior. I wanted to poke at her, scratch the surface and see what was underneath.

Maybe something interesting.

Surfing had taught me to trust my instincts, and my instincts pointed me straight toward her.

Pacific Rim lingered in the forefront of my mind, though. I had two months to catch as many waves as I could. Two months to get my head in the game. I didn’t have time for distractions.

“I don’t have time to show you how to flirt. Sorry, bookworm.” I shrugged and leaned on the doorway. Her gaze dropped to my bare stomach again and satisfaction flickered in me.

Poor little horndog Hannah. She just wanted to get laid.

“If you want to get guys,” I said, “Go to the bar, wear that dress from the wedding last year, sit by yourself at the counter, and within ten minutes, someone will come up and talk to you.”

An image of her dancing at the wedding with Avery popped in my head. They were laughing, being silly, enjoying themselves. With Avery, she smiled openly and let something shine through. She had a spark of fun in her, but she kept it locked away.

She wasn’t this shy little shrimp deep down.

I shook it out of my head. Not my problem.

She crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring my stance, and set her jaw. “You want to get a sponsor, right? Avery told me. I’ll help you run your social media. All the other surfers have social media, even before they got sponsors. People need to notice you.”

I paused and frowned at her. She made a good point. I hated dealing with social media, staring at a screen all day. I didn’t care enough to be good at it. I’d rather stare at the ocean, the mountains, or the sky.

“Surfing is how I’ll get a sponsor,” I told her. I wasn’t sure if I believed that. “I need to focus on surfing.”

She swallowed and her chest rose as she took another deep breath. “I didn’t want to do this, but you left me no choice.” Her gaze met mine. “I know about the Tula video.”

My eyebrows lifted with surprise, but I snorted. “Okay.”

Her mouth dropped in shock.

I laughed again. “What, you want me to get on my knees? Please, Hannah, don’t tell anyone about the video?”

She sputtered. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Look, I don’t care if people know about the video. I don’t care what people think. Sorry, bookworm.” I opened the back door to the surf shop.

“No cool surf brand would sponsor a silver mermaid!”

I paused in the doorway and cocked my head at her. “Merman.”

She raised her eyebrows in a challenge, struggling to hold eye contact. She wanted to crumble. I could feel it.

The corner of my mouth tugged up. “Are you blackmailing me?”

Her eyes were so wide. She crossed her arms and set her chin. “Yep.”