Chapter Ten #2
“I did.” Sawyer seemed very satisfied to have proved Jenna wrong and looked damn good doing it.
Dressed in tight-fitting jeans—which left nothing to the imagination, as far as her ass went—and a black ribbed turtleneck that seemed to enjoy every curve of her upper body, she looked absolutely delectable.
Her dark hair was slightly tousled, as a light breeze had kicked up outside, and her dark-rimmed glasses only added to her look of authoritative sexiness.
“Jenna?”
Jenna snapped out of it, the uncertain sound of Marina’s voice making it clear she’d said her name more than once as she held up a Sharpie. “I’m sorry. What?”
“This one’s dead.” Marina smiled as she held up a Sharpie, and there was a spark of…something in her dark eyes.
“Oh. Sure. Got it.” She took the pen as Lily signed with the second one she’d left, then hurried to the counter where Delia was busily ringing up customers. Once behind it, Jenna inhaled deeply and took a moment to steady herself. What the hell was wrong with her?
“You okay, boss?” Delia asked, scanning books with the little gun attached to the computer.
“Yup. Great. Peachy. No worries. I’m fine. I’m good.”
Dee looked up at her then and narrowed her eyes. “Really? ’Cause that was an awful lot of reassurance.”
“I’m fine,” she said, more to convince herself than Delia.
She stretched all ten of her icy cold fingers out and “shook the stupid off,” as Shane had taught her.
Weird, but it worked. She took in one big breath, straightened her back, dropped her shoulders into relaxation, and repeated “I’m fine,” with confidence this time.
Delia scrutinized her for a moment before saying simply, “Good.”
Heading back toward Lily’s table with two more Sharpies, Jenna had no choice but to face Sawyer, who reached out to hold her upper arm. “Hey, is it okay if we hang for a bit? My mom and sister want to look at other books, and honestly, I’d like Courtney to sit for a bit.”
“Of course,” Jenna said, putting her hand over Sawyer’s without thinking about it. Sawyer’s skin was warm and soft, and her hand felt strong as it held Jenna’s arm…which did weird things to her insides. “As long as you like. The line’s dying down, finally, so it’ll be less congested shortly.”
“Awesome. Thank you.” Sawyer squeezed lightly, and Jenna felt it right in that spot below her belly button, a pleasant fluttering that forced her to swallow.
She pointed across the room to the donut table. “I’ll grab Courtney a donut and some cider.”
“Oh, no, let me.” Again, her grip tightened, but never in an uncomfortable way.
The opposite, in fact, and it kept Jenna riveted to her spot, close enough to Sawyer to draw in the scent of her, woodsy and mysterious, with each quiet inhale.
“You’re working. I can do it.” She gave her a warm smile, then let go, and Jenna felt the loss of her grip much more than she expected to. Or cared to admit.
She watched Sawyer walk across the store, followed her with her eyes. When she finally tore her gaze away and moved it to her left, she met another gaze. Lily’s. Lily, with a knowing grin.
Jenna cleared her throat and forced herself back into work mode. It wasn’t as if there was nothing to be done or no customers to take care of.
Come on, Jenna, get your shit together!
She mentally scolded herself, even as she threw herself back into her work.
An evil part of her brain simply would not allow her to put her fantasies about Sawyer Hall back on a shelf where they belonged, and so they replayed in her head on a loop.
Like having a TV on in the background, not taking all of your attention but still snagging it here and there.
She literally walked into a bookshelf at one point, and Delia gave her a worried look.
Goddamn it.
Thankfully—holy shit, thank God—things died down slowly, and Lily managed to sign everybody’s book.
Jenna had had one or two signings in the past where either she’d miscalculated and run out of books for signing or, the dreaded opposite, hardly anybody showed and she was left with an overflow of books nobody wanted.
That was always rough on the author, and Jenna always felt terrible for them, sitting there at the little table with their pen and stack of books, basically twiddling their thumbs. A huge blow to the writer’s ego, that.
Such was never the case with Lily Chambers. Any appearances she made at BookLove equaled an excellent sales day for Jenna, and tonight was no different. By the time the last person in line had their book signed, Jenna had less than ten copies left, and everybody breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
“Well,” Lily said, capping the pen she’d been using. “That was incredible.” She pushed to her feet as Marina moved the chair out of the way for her. “And how are you feeling?” She turned her attention to Courtney, who was still sitting nearby and held up a half-eaten donut.
“This is my fifth one, I think,” she said, “so I’m great.”
Ally appeared from between two shelves. “You ready to go, honey?”
Courtney nodded. “Yeah, or I’m gonna end up sleeping right here in this chair. I’m so tired.” She reached out a hand to her mom and was pulled to her feet with some effort.
Sawyer had been scanning shelves, too, much to Jenna’s surprise, and she appeared from the back. Jerking a thumb over her shoulder, she said, “That loveseat back there is super comfy. You should’ve rested there, Court.”
“And miss watching the signing?” Courtney said. “As if.”
Lily laughed. “I can’t imagine anything more boring than watching me sign books.”
“Are you kidding?” Courtney said, as her mother held out her coat and Courtney slid an arm into a sleeve.
“That one woman practically sat in your lap. And how about the one who took about thirty-seven photos?” She met Jenna’s gaze.
“Did you see her? Even after Lily signed her book and had moved on, she still stood there, snapping away.”
Marina laughed as Lily shook her head with a smile. “She’s used to that,” Marina said. “People want to be close to her.” She held Lily’s coat for her. “Right, bella? I don’t blame them.”
“There’s one at every signing,” Jenna said, and it was true.
“Or five,” Shane muttered, but with a grin.
Sawyer donned her own coat and met Jenna’s gaze. “I’ll get these two out of your hair, but thanks for letting us hang.”
Jenna waved a dismissive hand as both Courtney and Ally nodded and gave her their thanks as well.
“I’m just so glad you all came,” she said as she hugged them both.
Giving Sawyer a little wave, she stood there as the door closed behind them.
She turned the sign from Open to Closed and watched as they moved down the street and out of sight.
“Was that a sigh?” Lily asked, and Jenna turned to her, surprised.
“That was most definitely a sigh,” Marina agreed.
“She sighs like that all the time after she’s around that one,” Delia said, and Jenna whipped her head around to look at her traitorous employee in shock. “What? It’s true.” Delia shrugged.
“There’s definitely something there,” Lily said, waving a finger toward the door. She was cleaning off the signing table, straightening the remaining books and gathering her cup and pens.
“Stop it,” Jenna said, taking things out of her hands. “You do not clean up. You’re the guest.”
Lily looked at Marina. “She’s ignoring the subject.”
“Absolutely, she is,” Marina agreed.
Jenna could feel the heat climbing up her neck from her chest as she threw things in the trash and moved Lily’s cup over near the Crock-Pot for washing. When she turned back, all four of the remaining people in the shop were looking at her. “What? I’m not sighing on purpose, okay?”
“Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you were,” Lily said, hooking her hand through Marina’s arm. “She’s gorgeous, and you two have some serious chemistry going on.”
That stopped her in her tracks. “We do?”
Dee snorted a laugh as Lily and Marina both nodded. “Yeah. Big time.”
Jenna looked at Dee. “You think so, too?”
“I have eyes, don’t I?” Delia was never one to sugarcoat anything. Jenna remembered that from school. Then Dee addressed Lily and Marina. “Did you guys know that she lives next door? In the other side of Jenna’s duplex?”
Jenna watched as Lily’s mouth dropped open. “No.”
“Yup.” Delia hit some buttons on the computer to tally up the night. “Just a wall separates them. One measly wall.”
Lily stepped close to Jenna and wrapped an arm around her. “Sweetie, I am a romance writer, and I couldn’t come up with something more perfectly romantic.”
Was it her gentle tone? Her choice of words?
Jenna wasn’t sure, but whatever it was about Lily Chambers in that moment, it relaxed her, made her lose the edginess and the defensiveness and just breathe.
She felt her shoulders lower under Lily’s arm, and she simply nodded.
“Yeah.” She couldn’t get into more, she didn’t have the ability.
How could she explain something she didn’t quite understand herself?
Sawyer was not somebody she’d liked…initially. And now?
Well. Yeah.
Now.
She sighed again, and that made Lily laugh and wrap her up in a full, two-armed hug.
“You are by far my favorite bookseller, Jenna Murphy. I’m so happy I got to spend time in your shop again.
” She let go and held Jenna at arm’s length.
“Speaking of which, I need about a dozen of those candles.” She pointed behind the front counter. “They smell amazing.”
“Don’t they? I have another shipment due in next week.”
Lily pulled out her phone. “I’m making a note to place an order.”
Marina leaned close. “Bella, we’ve got to go if we’re going to meet your Chloe for dinner.”
“My niece,” Lily said by way of explanation, then gave Jenna one more hug.
Marina hugged her too. “So nice to finally meet you,” she said, her dark eyes soft and kind. “Until next time.”