5. Brianna
Chapter five
Brianna
R hys was true to his word, and by 11 a.m. the next morning they were at the hardware store in the next town over to pick up all the supplies he needed to repair the wall. Not long after they were back on the highway, the late nights spent getting her shop ready caught up with her, and she drifted off to sleep in the front passenger seat.
She awoke with a start as the truck turned off the sealed road onto gravel. She had assumed Rhys would drop her back at the store, but it seemed he had other plans. “Where… where are we?”
Rhys turned and smiled at her. “It’s a beautiful day and I thought we might stretch our legs before going back to Cantrell.” His smile faded as her distinct lack of enthusiasm became apparent to him. “Is that… okay?”
She stared out the window at the trailhead that was steadily becoming clearer. “I, uh, I hadn’t really planned for any hiking today. I don’t have any of my gear, no-one knows where we’re going, I don’t even have dry shoes for the trip home if mine get wet!”
Brianna stopped, conscious that her voice had gotten higher as her misgivings poured out of her. Refusing to go on a spontaneous hike was a very Old Brianna thing to do. Rhys was clearly at home in the hills and while she didn’t know him all that well yet, a walk would give them more time to talk.
And it’s not like his voice is hard to listen to… he could read the dictionary and I’d still be hanging off every word.
“How long is the walk?” She turned to him and offered what she hoped was an apologetic smile. “Maybe a short walk would be okay?”
“Brianna—” He reached across the center console and took her hand in his. “It was just an idea, and we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We’re less than five miles from town, and it’s no problem to keep going.”
“I do want to, I was just surprised, that’s all.” He was moving his thumb across the top of her knuckles, and she could feel the callouses again. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a warmer jacket I can borrow?”
Brianna felt her nose reddening with cold as she walked alongside Rhys. Next to them, Lake San Christobal was a sheet of ice, and she could just make out several small structures in the distance.
“They’re ice fishing huts,” Rhys said, correctly guessing the direction her thoughts were going. “It’s a bit of a tradition around here apparently. People take their kids, who take their kids, sort of thing.”
“We definitely didn’t have those where I grew up.” She shivered, and was glad when Rhys took her hand in his.
“Didn’t have them in Scotland either.” He chuckled while gently steering her towards a nearby bench seat with a view of the lake.
“What made you leave Scotland? I don’t think you mentioned it last night.”
He let go of her hand, and sat down heavily in front of her, all traces of laughter gone from his face.
“Has it got something to do with… oh.” She reached out to run her hand along his scar. “Can— can I?”
His lips compressed into a thin line, and he nodded.
Her hand was close enough to feel his breath on her rapidly cooling skin when she paused. Something told her that running her fingers along his scar wasn’t quite the right move—but she knew what was.
She moved to stand between his knees and leaned forward slightly until her hands rested on either side of him. She was barely breathing now, and his dark eyes bored into hers. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him clenching and unclenching his hands where they rested on his knees. But he didn’t touch her, even though she could see in his eyes that he wanted to.
She leaned down and dropped a featherlight kiss on the top part of his scar, right underneath his eye. His eyelashes tickled her lips as he closed his eyes. Down his face she went, before stopping just next to his lips, which were tightly clenched together.
“Bree,” he bit out, rolling the r sharply. “For the love of all things holy, can I please kiss you already?”
She didn’t answer, instead brushing her nose against his before capturing his lips with her own. Somehow, she ended up in his lap, one of his arms tight around her waist, and his hand in her hair. Her hands were bunched into the front of his jacket, and in the dim recesses of her mind she thought if she’d known kissing Rhys was on the agenda, she would have packed lip balm.
She was vaguely aware of a loud voice in the distance before something wet and slimy nudged her exposed skin where her jacket had ridden up, pulling her firmly back into the present—and out of Rhys’ arms.
“Sorry!” called the dog walker in the distance. “Momo, come!” The golden retriever loped off towards its owner, and Brianna stood up awkwardly in front of Rhys, who was breathing hard. She wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of their kiss down to her very core.
“Now, where were we?” He reached out and placed his hands behind her thighs, gently pulling her forward to stand between his legs. “Or can I encourage you to sit on my lap again?” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed.
“You’re sure?” She hesitated, even though part of her brain was telling her to jump his bones already—albeit somewhere a fraction more private, and where dogs were required to be on a leash.
“Bree, you’re thinking so hard I can see the steam coming from your ears. I’m a stubborn man, and if I don’t want to do something then you’ll know about it. Are you going to make me beg for another kiss?” He stuck his bottom lip out into a pout, and her heart swelled in her chest as his words, and the nickname, engraved themselves into her brain.
She looped her arms around his neck again, and was rewarded with a wide smile that mirrored hers. “Just one, then we should head to the shop—that drywall won’t hang itself.”
Back at the store, Rhys made quick work of installing the drywall while she set up the social media accounts for the shop. She didn’t think Katerina would expand her bargain basement bookstore empire this far from the city, but she was careful to only use romance- and Colorado-specific hashtags and search terms.
After checking with Rhys that he was okay appearing on social media, she filmed some candid footage of him wielding the electric drill. He rolled up his sleeves for the camera, and her eyes were drawn to his muscled arms. If she wasn’t careful, this would go viral and there would be a long line of women out the door, looking for the man in the flannel shirt with his sleeves rolled up. On the other hand, if word got around that A Moonlit Night Bookshop had a real-life mountain man in residence, her sales would go through the roof.
Old Brianna would have started spiraling at the idea of other women coming for the man she was starting to consider hers, but his words from earlier stood fast. If he didn’t want to be with her, he would tell her plainly. Until he did, his intentions were obvious—and she appreciated his candor.
She put the finishing touches on the video of Rhys, then uploaded it to several different apps before heading out the back to find the remaining can of pink paint to match the rest of the walls.
Rhys caught her eye as she came back into the store. “Am I internet famous yet?”
“I don’t know about you, per se, but your muscles might be.” She didn’t need to look in the window to know she was blushing. “I didn’t tag you in it though.”
“So, I’m nameless, too. Just fodder for those reader reaction videos.” He laughed as she shook her head in amusement. “Go ahead and tag me. It’ll give the rescue team something to hassle me about later.”
“How do you know about those reader reaction videos?”
“Well, this is the thing.” He took her arms and gently steered her towards the flower wall, until they were directly in front of it, noses almost touching. “When you start researching popular romance novels, it changes your social media algorithm… forever.”
“You… researched?” Her voice was getting higher again, but for a good reason this time.
“Well, someone very special to me is building a business around them, so I thought I’d better school myself.”
She looked at him wordlessly as the enormity of what he was saying sunk in. Once again, he was making it clear where she stood for him—the least she could do was the same.
“You’re special to me too,” she whispered. “I’ve always wanted my own dark and handsome man to lean on the doorway and kiss me…”
“Is that right?” he said, a moment before his lips captured hers in a passionate kiss leaving them both breathless. “You’ll have to show me the doorway thing later.”
As much as Brianna wanted to spend time alone with Rhys exploring what was growing between them, the next three weeks were a blur of early starts, late nights and ticking a million and one things off her to-do list. Between loading all the books into the computer system, managing her social media accounts and getting the store ready, she was running on empty—and her Valentine’s Day opening was only three days away.
If it wasn’t for Rhys popping in most days, bringing food and to help her film content, she might not have seen him at all, given how much time he was spending with the Cantrell Mountain Rescue team.
A few days earlier, over a rushed dinner of sandwiches and sodas, she’d apologized for taking up what little spare time he had.
“I don’t expect you to drop everything and help me,” she said, putting her sandwich down and taking his hand in hers. “Are you getting enough sleep?” She couldn’t help but notice the bags under his eyes and didn’t want him burning the candle at both ends just for her.
“I’m getting enough.” He shrugged. “At least I’m in a real bed, and it’s not the desert. And you’re not exactly sleeping in yourself—I’ve seen the lights on nearly every time I’ve driven past, day and night.”
“Maybe,” she hedged, “but I’m only doing one job. You’re holding down a job, and helping me, and getting your feet under the table with the rescue team.”
“The timing could be better,” he conceded. “But it’s their busy season and they want me to observe how things work at the search and rescue base before I sign up properly.”
“Just so long as you stay safe,” she pleaded. “I don’t want to think about something happening to you because you’re tired, or you make a mistake at work, or—”
He leaned forward and kissed her gently, cutting off what she was about to say. “My life is already infinitely better for having you in it. I promise I’ll be careful.”
She smiled at the memory of his words from that day, and went back to unpacking a box of historical romances. They were published by a small local press and while they were very much at the wholesome end of the spectrum, Brianna wanted to make sure her shop stocked a wide range of subgenres and spice levels.
Someone knocked on the door, and she looked up, startled. While the new store sign was up outside, she had put brown paper over the windows as part of a big reveal video she was planning to film tomorrow. Besides, no-one ever knocked in Cantrell—people just walked straight in. It was part of small town living she was quickly getting used to.
Whoever it was at the door knocked again, then opened it. The last person Brianna ever wanted to see walked in. “Ah, so my sources were right, it is you.”
“It is,” Brianna said, willing her voice to stay even. How had Katerina found her so quickly? She wasn’t at all savvy on social media—at least she hadn’t been while Brianna worked for her—and Brianna had begged all her suppliers to keep her plans quiet.
Katerina walked slowly around the store, her sharp gaze taking in the shelves still only half-filled with books and the boxes waiting to be unpacked. “It’s quite the setup you’ve got here. I suppose you learned a thing or two, working for me.”
“I’ve always liked books.” Brianna didn’t know what else to say. There was an element of truth in what her former boss was saying, but she didn’t want to give her that satisfaction. All she could think of was how long it would be until Katerina sat her down, told her she was doomed to fail, and offered to buy her out. She’d seen it happen so many times.
“But it’s not just books you have here, from what I saw online.” Her Eastern European accent took on a sultry tone, and Brianna’s heart sank. “Where is the man with the power tools? I would like to meet him.”
And she’s started already. She doesn’t just want my store; she wants Rhys as well…