Chapter 1 #3
“When’s your family coming?” she asked, wondering if the question was too personal.
He smiled and leaned against the counter. If he had been anyone other than Ryan Mathers, she’d think he was hitting on her with the way he gave her the side-eye. A guy like that wouldn’t waste his time with a cheesy gift shop owner. “Most of them are arriving today.”
“Let me get the receipt,” she said, figuring the bill would break his good mood.
He stood up, reached into his back pocket, and pulled out his wallet again. He threw a card down.
“You seem to carry a lot here,” he said, looking around the shop.
She couldn’t tell if he was slightly impressed or slightly horrified.
She scanned the space from a tourist’s perspective.
Her tiny store only fit a few customers comfortably.
Packed with basic needs and souvenirs, Thea really did have everything a tourist might need when visiting the island.
Maybe having aspirin and Band-Aids next to her Isabel Island sweatshirts gave off the wrong impression.
Maybe she should scale down and streamline her business, like Johnny.
Only sell a few items—bicycles, coffee, and golf cart rentals.
She rang up the total, trying to ignore his biceps, which were some of the biggest she’d ever seen. Were they bigger than her head? A sleeve of tattoos covered his whole left arm. Nowhere did she see a football or a Super Bowl ring in the art on his arm.
“Oh, Addie! Look who it is!” said a woman in a sundress and a straw hat. A red, white, and blue ribbon hung behind her like a tail, allowing for easy spotting as she walked through the store.
“Want to sneak out the back?” Thea whispered to him as the woman and the young girl came closer, phones aimed right at him.
“Nah, I’m good, but I appreciate the thought,” he said, shrugging as if having fans run after you was a normal, everyday occurrence.
“Addie, take a picture!” the older woman said as her daughter got in front of him.
Thea shouted out before she could stop herself. “Excuse me, ma’am, please don’t do that!”
“Geez, I just wanted a picture,” the woman complained, holding up her phone, taking pictures.
Ryan smiled at Thea, then turned to the woman, giving her a short wave.
“It’s okay. Would you like a photograph? Addy, is it?”
He stood next to the young girl. “Say, Let’s go Pats!”
He held up his index finger with the girl as she smiled at her mother’s phone and repeated his phrase.
“That’s so great!” the mother said. “How about one with me?”
The mother batted her eyelashes and squeezed her arms inward in a way that created a much more voluptuous figure. Thea couldn’t believe the woman’s blatant flirting. She felt embarrassed watching the whole thing.
Thea almost felt sorry for the daughter, thinking she’d be mortified, but she was on her phone typing rapidly. Then she took another selfie, with Ryan in her background and Thea staring directly at her phone.
The whole thing felt gross as the mother continued to whine about not getting the right angle, even though her daughter continued to take selfies with him in the background without his permission.
“You need to stop that,” Thea said, pointing at the girl’s phone.
“What?” the girl instantly curled her lip in disgust. Her mother’s eyes narrowed.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” the mother said to Thea, her attention no longer on the football superstar.
“I think it’s time for you and your daughter to leave my shop,” Thea said, walking out from behind the counter.
She didn’t know what she would do if the woman and her daughter refused.
It wasn’t like she was a linebacker who could tackle them out of the shop.
If anything, she’d probably laugh at Thea.
Besides, she didn’t know why she was getting all ruffled up. It’s not like he was getting upset about it. Whatever it was, she didn’t like the behavior. The two had no boundaries, and that made her uncomfortable.
“Well, don’t expect me to buy any of this junk!” the woman huffed as she stormed out of the shop. Her daughter didn’t even notice she’d left until her mother screamed her name.
“Addie Marie, get your butt out here!” she yelled from the sidewalk.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, straining his neck, watching them leave.
Thea didn’t even know why she did do that. She usually didn’t like a confrontation, but something had come over her.
“It’s not how we act here, on the island,” she explained. “We’re protective of our people.”
“You were fierce,” he said. “Ever think of playing football? That look will scare your opponents.”
She laughed at his joke but went right back to business, placing his card in front of him again. “Here’s your bill.”
He picked up the receipt. Not batting an eye, he pushed his card toward her. “Ring it up.”
She rang it up and asked for his signature. “Thank you for coming in this morning. I’ll bring the boards over later today.”
As she watched him leave the store, holding her painting under his very large arm, she decided she would close for a lunch break.