Page 49 of Spotlight
“Good to see you again. I enjoyed your books. Your characters are hilarious and that twist at the end ofLove Bites? Never saw it coming.”
“Thank you.” My sister beams.
She leans over to whisper to me, “Swoooon.”
Before I can reply, she stands tall again and says louder to Flynn, “Come back to the store and I’ll let Olivia sell you some more.”
“I’ll do that.” His stare finally moves over to Gigi, and he tips his head, expression going a tad more serious.
“I didn’t realize my granddaughters knew the new pitcher,” Gigi says to him, then looks to me for an explanation.
“Flynn, this is my grandmother, Gloria.”
“Nice to meet you,” he says to her.
“You too,” Gigi replies.
“He came into the store last week,” I tell her before Ruby or Flynn gets any ideas to share more. I know Gigi and Ruby would have us mentally engaged with a dozen babies if she knew the whole story.
“A book lover?” she asks and then smirks at me. Who was I kidding? She’s going to picture us living happily ever after no matter what I say or do.
“He’s working with Plot Twist,” I say.
“Ah.” Her expression goes serious, and she nods with understanding.
Flynn offers a sheepish smile. “That’s true. And honestly, I’ve never been a huge reader, but I liked your store. It was…charming.”
“It’s all Olivia’s doing,” Gigi praises me. “Since she took over running the store, we’ve been runner-up for best bookstore twice.”
It’s so obvious what she’s doing and my cheeks flush.
“Is that right?” Flynn beams at me. “In that case, you should let me take you out to celebrate.”
“You want to celebrate the store being runner-up?” I quirk a brow.
“Sure. It sounds like a big deal.”
A laugh bubbles up and slips out. “If you had lost today, would you want to celebrate it?”
“With you? Probably.” His eyes still twinkle, but his smile falls a fraction.
Before he can ask me again, because I have a feeling he will, I say, “Greer and I need to get home.”
“All right.” He looks at my daughter and signs something to her.
She signs right back and my heart squeezes.
“You look like Uncle Archer,” she says as she slips her hand into mine.
“Really?” Flynn asks. “Are you sure I’m not more handsome?”
He winks at her and Greer giggles sweetly.
Flynn pushes back from the fence and waves to Gigi and Ruby, who wave right back very enthusiastically.
He then walks backward away from us.
“What are you doing? You should absolutely go out with him,” Ruby hisses.
