Chapter 9
“He’s baaack,” Elspeth sang into Penny’s ear as she joined her in the customer service area.
“I know. Bit like a bad penny,” she said under her breath as she pulled the customer’s special order from the stack.
“Or an STD.” Penny elbowed her aunt. The last thing she needed was to think about was an STD which would lead to thinking about sex, which would lead to thinking about sex with Bash, and she didn’t need to add that fuel to the fire. He’d already crashed into a dream.
Calling her out on her rude behavior still stung, but on a morning run she’d concluded Bash Vetter was like a sugar cookie. She wasn’t a fan, even of Maggie’s special recipe, which had a subtle hint of citrus. But, if she was in public and someone offered her a sugar cookie, she’d accept it gracefully to be polite. In her private life, she avoided them. Treating Bash like a sugar cookie would get her through the season. She didn’t have to like him, but she could accept him.
He’d stopped into the store a few times in the last week. Browsing, but never buying. One night she’d caught him slumped in a reading chair near the mystery club, listening in with his ball cap pulled down low and the collar of his leather jacket pulled up. That bad boy look is the night he’d sneaked into her dreamland. Sometimes she caught him making notes on his phone or taking pictures of displays after he’d carefully put the books back where they belonged. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was staking the store for a burglary or a buyout.
Today he waited in line empty-handed, bouncing on his feet. Penny placed the two thrillers, a book about British spies during World War II, and a Winston Churchill biography on the counter. “Have you read any of the Maggie Dobbs mysteries by Jacqueline Winspear?” she asked the customer.
“No, I haven’t, but if you say they’re good, I’ll give it a try. You’ve never steered me wrong.“
“We have a few on the shelves. Would you like me to get you the first book in the series?” The older man nodded, and Penny felt Bash’s eyes on her as she walked across the floor. A tingly feeling raced up her back until she escaped into the mysteries section.
She almost ran into the counter as she heard the man thanking Bash as she neared the register. Penny couldn’t imagine Bash willingly having a conversation and she didn’t think Mr. Brown, a devoted reader, was a football fan. She took his payment for Maisie Dobbs and carefully put all his books into his reusable bag prominently displaying the Get Lost’s logo of a traveler walking a path and reading a book surrounded by a pirate’s ship, a dragon, a smoking gun, a castle, a couple kissing, and a few other nods to book genres. “Enjoy your books,” she said, handing them to Mr. Brown.
“Oh, I will. It’s reading season now that the weather’s getting colder.”
“It’s always reading season,” Penny teased, knowing that Mr. Brown spent most of his spring and summer tending his elaborate gardens or traveling with his wife, a dedicated knitter and reader no matter the season. Mrs. Brown was a co-leader of the women’s fiction group, which reminded Penny to call her and see what book they’d decided on for February.
Bash approached the counter and Penny grabbed the mail stack. She could sort the mail and deal with the sugar cookie. “Hello. Do you need help finding the books with the x’s and o’s?” Penny wanted to slap herself for the rude comment, but Bash chuckled. She gave him a quick smile as the first two pieces went into the recycling pile.
He placed his hands on the edge of the counter, leaning toward her and looking around, as if expecting a tackle. “Do you have any books with the audio?”
“No, sorry. Audiobooks never sold well for us.”
“Not audiobooks, but a book you could read and listen to at the same time. To help with your reading skills.”
“For early readers? If you let me know their interests, I can check the catalogues and order something in.”
“This would be for an adult.” Her hand stilled, and she swallowed.
“Oh, um”—she reached for his hand but snatched it back before they touched—“I’ve never seen anything like that. But I’m more than happy to look and see what we can put together. What types of stories are you interested in?” Penny’s heart broke for him as the pieces fell into place: why he preferred movies, why he’d mentioned the Ricky Rivera television show, why he’d listened to other groups and hung around. He’d been working up the nerve to talk to her about this private and embarrassing matter. Penny felt sick.
“Penny, relax. They’re not for me. It’s for someone on the team.”
“Oh, well, what does your friend like?” she asked, feeling better.
“Colleague, and other than blocking and tackling, I don’t know.”
“So, business?” The corners of his mouth twitched at her lame joke, and she felt on solid ground again.
“Probably not.”
“I’m assuming he has the basics, like an elementary level, but let me think about it. We might need to create our own package with the audio book and the physical book. But one with a non-juvenile cover. And I’ll check to see if there’re any audiobooks that play better at a slower speed. When did you want it?” she asked excitedly.
“Whenever you find it.” She’d never researched anything like this. And maybe her efforts would create a book lover? Who’d have thought her sugar cookie would bring her a treat? She smiled at him, genuinely, for the first time, but he stared at her like she was the village idiot. Her glow dimmed. “And I trust you, so if you think of something that might work better, I’m open to it,” he said.
“Right.” She returned to her mail, undeterred, as he watched her. Finally. She slipped her finger under the envelope’s flap and ripped it open. She quickly scanned the letter. Thank you for your interest…busy schedule…time of year…regret to inform you. She folded the letter. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said, not meeting his eyes before fleeing to the privacy of their office.
Penny tossed the letter on the desk, unsure of its fate or theirs. Ripping it to shreds or burning it would be satisfying, but with her luck, someone would smell smoke and call the fire department. She tore it in half, stacking the two pieces together before ripping it again. Penny focused on destroying it, just like it had destroyed her plans for the fourth quarter.
Behind her, the door shut, and she whirled around, hoping it was Elspeth.
“What’s wrong?” Bash asked.
Penny slumped into her desk chair. She should yell at him for following her and intruding on her pity party, but she didn’t have the energy to care. “Just another rejection.” She sighed, fighting the urge to off-load the pain. Maggie would feel it and Elspeth would disregard it, saying something pithy like it’s for the best or it wasn’t meant to be, but Bash would be oblivious. He had the empathy of a goldfish, and it wasn’t his problem. And, if she was wrong about his ability to care, then his broad shoulders could carry the burden until she found a solution.
“Just another rejection.”
“You’re looking for a job?”
“What? No!” She shook her head. She didn’t know how to solve this dilemma, but she knew quitting and walking away from Get Lost wasn’t it. “I’ll never leave. I love it here. It’s my life. Just like football’s yours.”
“Football isn’t my life,” Bash said, pulling his eyes from her. His energy shifted as he looked around the room. He was always a muddled mess of multiple emotions. She recognized the ever-present underlying anxiety tinged with impatience, but other emotions were always layered on top. Why can’t he be easy to read like everyone else? If he was easy to read, she could get on with her day, but he made her question her gifts. She knew reading Bash clearly and accurately would make her a better witch. “What if you meet someone, and you know…”
“Fell in love?” She finished for him.
He shrugged, “Sure, or got married.” Penny blinked. Who gets married without being in love?
“Then he needs to stay in Cascade City.” Penny wouldn’t move. She could, but she wouldn’t. Moving away meant losing her powers. Elspeth always said the coven stayed strong because, as mature witches, they stayed together. “But it doesn’t matter, since I have no plans to marry.”
“Really? No desire for hearth and home, a few kids underfoot, and the love of your life to wake up to in the morning?” He leaned against the filing cabinet, smirking at her. His energy shifted again, this time more relaxed, almost as if he enjoyed teasing her.
“Nope. It’s fine for other people, but I’m happy with my life.” Other than worrying about the business and this desk, which Elspeth always leaves a mess.
“Except you’re worried about the bookstore.”
“Why do you say that?” She dropped the stray paper clips into the colorful finger bowl she’d bought at a market in Morocco. Penny couldn’t look at him. If Bash was as good at reading her as he was at reading the opponent’s defensive line, he’d see her deflection for the lie it was.
“This is the second rejection letter I know about, so I bet there’ve been more, and I bet author appearances help bring people in. You seem busy with lookers, not shoppers.” She knocked the pens against the desk before putting them in their holder, annoyed that she’d misread him again. He was observant. Too observant. And he apparently had a wider emotional bandwidth than a goldfish. Maybe a cat if Maggie’s one-eyed orange cat, George, was anything to go by. Penny stood and pushed in the desk chair, regretting her decision to off-load on him and wanting him out of her space. Now.
She knew he wouldn’t leave willingly, and she knew she couldn’t move him without using magic, which would land her in hot water with Elspeth. But, she could scare him off. A guy like him wouldn’t welcome someone in his personal space. She smiled as she moved toward him. “You keep missing the big spenders. Don’t worry about us,” Penny said, patting him on the chest instead of the head.
“But what if I do worry?” His gravelly voice distracted Penny as he captured her hand, holding it against his chest. His heart was slow and rhythmic beneath her palm. Unbothered while Penny’s heart raced. Touching him to frighten him off had been a terrible idea. Fold or double-down?
“Then you’re wasting energy,” she purred, sure that her tone would scare him.
“It’s my energy to waste as I choose.” Bash tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Busted! She gulped as their eyes locked. He wouldn’t let this go—let her go—until he had answers. Sharing with him had been a terrible, horrible, no-good idea.
Penny didn’t need or want him to solve this for her. She’d only wanted him to listen as she muddled through her emotions and cleaned them out before she made a plan. Her plan. Her solution. But being a man, solving problems was hard-wired into him. She’d underestimated him. But she hadn’t lost yet. She had one more trick up her sleeve to get him out of her office.
“I can think of better ways to spend it.” Penny pressed her lips to his. She’d expected them to be cold and unyielding, but they were soft and warm. Comforting, yet not. He angled his head and Penny leaned closer to him. He spread his hand across her back and her free one snaked into his hair, tugging him closer.
Penny felt her game morph into reality, and she slowly pulled away. Reluctant to end her diversion, but knowing she had to. She’d never made the first move in her life, and she wondered if that’s what had made it so much more exciting. As if every nerve ending was awake. She tapped into Bash, wondering if he’d felt it too. Nothing. Not only had she kissed the egotistical man first, but now she couldn’t read him.
She placed her hand over his heart. Again, nothing, only his steady and slightly elevated beat. It should have made her feel good knowing she’d affected him as much as he’d affected her, but it scared her. Penny always sensed something when she wanted to. “That’s not good,” she murmured.
Bash dropped his hands and stepped back as if she’d dumped ice water on him. “Not the reaction I was expecting. I apologize.” He stepped around her so quickly, Penny swore she’d felt a breeze when he passed. Several shoppers moved out of his path as he stormed out of the store.
“And that’s very bad.”