Page 102 of One Touch

Maybe if I hung around a man that wanted something romantic to happen, that would help, too.

I shook my head. For now, all I had was the books.

Losing myself in them, however, was not easy. For one thing, they were all in such disarray. Each time things had started going well between me and Ethan, I’d started a new display. Unforgettable first kisses. Stupidly steamy sex scenes. I’d even started a new corner dedicated to hot mechanics. But then, inevitably, as things ran hot and cold between me and my real-life mechanic, I’d lost interest in the books again.

And then there were the money worries. The money Ethan had been paying me had helped me pay off a few wedding debts I still owed, but the bookstore was still in crisis. There were bills from suppliers waiting for me in my long-neglected work inbox, and the bookstore was no longer bringing in enough revenue to pay the rent. Partly because I had been closing the store a lot, and partly because I’d been putting customers off with phrases like, “Romance is a lie.”

I turned on the coffee machine with a sigh and then logged into my computer, opening up my business banking account. I made a mental note to change the password. LilyandVlad4Eva didn’t have quite the same ring to it as it once had.

I grimaced as I saw the balance.

Paying these bills was going to virtually clean me out. Old transactions caught my eye. Thousands spent on a wedding that hadn’t happened. Canapes and cake toppers. Favors and flowers.

I was in trouble. Something had to change. I either had to fall back in love with—well—love, or move on to something new.

Sighing, I sank into a plush armchair, burying my face in my hands. I was thoroughly, utterly screwed.

Just as I was about to lose myself in another spiral of overthinking, my phone vibrated with an incoming call. Grateful for the distraction, I fished it out of my pocket, my brows lifting when I saw Mary-Beth’s name on the screen. I know I was trying very hard not to believe in omens, but that had to be one, right?

“Hey, MB,” I answered, trying my best not to sound like I was mid-freakout. “What’s up?”

“Lils, you’ll never guess what happened. Saffron, who was working in horrror and sci-fi, is pregnant. She’s leaving really soon for mat leave. She says she’s coming back, but her husband works in finance and they are loaded, and honestly, who would want to come back to work if you didn’t literally have to?”

I looked around the bookstore. “Yeah. She’s lucky.”

“Anyway, to cut a long story short, we now have no horror agents left here at all! And Coco remembered about you, without me even having to prompt her. She asked me—no, begged me, really—to get you in for an interview. Not just for a junior role, but to head up the whole department.”

I sat up straighter, my heart skipping a beat. “Why does Coco wantmeto interview? Why not, like, an actual horror fan?”

“Well, she remembers me telling her about what you did at your wedding, for one thing. And she finds the name of your bookstore really funny. And I guess, honestly, she’s quite nepotistic when it comes to employing people, so it’s pretty much always family members or friends of friends, or . . . Wait, are you interested?”

I sucked in a sharp breath, my mind reeling. It was an amazing opportunity. A chance to earn some real cash, to get away from the bookstore, to start out all over again. Sure, I’d be working withhorrornovels, but how bad could they be? It was fun to be scared shitless, right? Who doesn’t like to imagine getting eaten or kidnapped or lured into the woods or whatever normally happens in horror books?

The point was that this would be the end of my money problems. The end of making Ethan uncomfortable. The end of breaking rules and causing trouble.

After all, Ethan would be finishing his firefighter training soon. Ava would get her dyslexia test and be just fine without me. Elara would have her baby. Wasn’t thismytime to shine?

So, why did the thought of leaving Bluehaven Beach feel like a punch to the gut?

“Lily? You still there?”

I shook myself out of my daze. “Yeah, yeah. I just . . . wow. I still can’t . . . it’s a lot to think about.”

“It is. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m pushing you. I just didn’t want you to miss out on the chance. Did I mention the salary? The starting salary is fifty grand, but you’d probably get a little higher than that with your literary background.”

Fifty. Grand?

Mary-Beth was right. This was an amazing opportunity. And yet, even as I opened my mouth to agree, something held me back. A tugging in my chest, a whisper in the back of my mind.

A pair of piercing blue eyes that seemed to see straight into my soul.

“I . . . I don’t know. Do you need to know now?”

“Kind of! I might be able to stall Coco for a couple of days. But don’t take too long. This kind of thing doesn’t come around every day. I mean, I might still be able to swing you a junior role, butif you want to interview for the Head of Department role, then you’re gonna need to move quickly.”

“You know what, Mary-Beth, I’m actually going to—”

A tapping at the window stopped me in my tracks. It was Ethan, and he was holding a bouquet of flowers.

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