22. All Booked Up

22

All Booked Up

Alice

When I wake up the next day, the butterflies are still happily fluttering in my belly, but I order them to land. As amazing as last night was—that goodbye kiss will be etched into my brain for eternity—I've already learned the hard way that, come morning, Deacon has a tendency to change his mind.

I walk to the kitchen where Emma and Hayley are already eating breakfast. They both stop what they're doing when they see me .

"How was last night?" Hayley asks, setting her half-eaten slice of toast down.

I pause, trying to collect myself. I want to be measured and all that, but my huge smile betrays me. "He took me on my dream date. Literally."

Hayley gasps, and Emma's eyes widen.

"You mean—" Emma starts, but I don't let her finish.

"He took me to a bookstore!" I blurt, and it's way too loud for such early hours of the day.

More gasps and bulging eyes. "No way!"

"We did a scavenger hunt—I won, of course—and then we went out for dinner, where we talked about the books we chose. It was honestly the perfect date."

"Wow." Hayley nods, grabbing her mug. "I would have never thought that was his kind of date."

Emma coughs. "Says the girl who got a hockey player into reading romance just for her."

I let out a laugh. "My hockey player brother, might I add. Which is even crazier, since I've known him my whole life, and he never expressed interest in reading."

A smile breaks onto Hayley's face. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, I'm happy for you, Alice." Wiggling her eyebrows, she adds, "So, the date was great, but did you kiss him?"

"I did, but it wasn't the first time," I say, biting my lip .

"What?" Emma jolts in her chair, spilling some of her coffee.

"When?" Hayley adds, shaking her head.

I take a deep breath. "During our trip."

"But you came back so defeated?" Emma frowns, which only makes me think of Deacon.

"Yeah, because the next day, he said he wasn't interested in dating because he had to focus on Lola."

Hayley frowns. "Oh, so what changed?"

I swallow hard. "To be honest, I don't know. We haven't talked about it yet. I wanted to bring it up, but it was such a perfect date, I didn't want to risk ruining it. But I'll talk to him today. How early is too early?"

Emma glances at her watch. "Um, we're still in the single digits, honey. It's too early."

I release a small breath. "Right."

"So, is he a good kisser?" Hayley asks, wrapping her hands around her mug.

I wet my lips at the reminder of his own lips pressed against mine, and the butterflies come back in full force. "He's an amazing kisser. Gentle, soft, and incredibly—"

"Ew, okay," Emma says, holding her hand up. "We don't want all the gross details."

Hayley shakes her head. "Emma Sterling: the only romance reader who's allergic to love. "

I chuckle.

" Real life love," she corrects her, putting her mug down. "I'm perfectly fine with fictional romance. Especially when it's twisted and morally gray."

We all laugh again. I won't say it, but I'm confident there's a real man out there who will change her mind.

"Oh, by the way," Hayley says. "Did you see John Taylor's post? He's narrating another one of Alexandra Bowe's books. It'll be out next week, I think."

"What? No, I had no clue." I lunge for my phone. "I have to check this out, stat."

But as the screen lights up, I notice an email notification from SilverScreen Studios with "Location Rental" as the subject line. What's this about? I open the email, skim through the contents, and let out a gasp, my heart thrumming wildly. "Girls! I think a Hollywood studio wants to shoot in our bookstore."

They both frown. "Wait, what?" Hayley asks.

"Look," I say, thrusting my phone toward her. "I just got this email. They want to rent the bookstore sporadically from July to September to shoot a movie."

"Oh my gosh," Hayley gasps. "They're adapting Velvet Kisses by Melissa Fortner!"

"No way!" I grab my phone back. How did I miss that crucial piece of information ?

Emma finishes her coffee, then licks her lips. "Probably a scam. Ignore it."

"I don't think so," Hayley says, typing on her phone. "The email address looks legit. And I just checked—the guy who wrote the email really is an employee of SilverScreen Studios."

Emma scrutinizes the email too and agrees that it looks suspiciously legit.

"Well, how should I respond? Are we interested? Even if that means closing the bookstore, it could be pretty cool. And that's a lot of zeroes per day of shooting."

"It's kind of insane, though," Emma says. "Three months is a long time, and they're probably going to tear the place down. What are we even going to do while they're shooting?"

"Can we even still live upstairs?" Hayley asks.

All valid questions. Emma taps her chin. "I don't know. Let's think about it, and then we can email them back, maybe request a call?"

"Sure." I nod. "I'll message them back asking for a call, and we'll take it from there."

Deaco n

The moment I exit my bedroom, I'm assaulted by a nosy teenager.

"So, how did it go?" she asks, her eyes brimming with hope and fear. Does she have no faith in me?

I muffle a yawn. "Coffee."

"Uncle Deacon." She pokes me in the arm. "Are you two dating or not?"

Now wide awake, I can finally roll my eyes. "We are."

At least, I hope so. We didn't exactly talk about that yesterday, but I know she's looking for a relationship. As for me, I've never imagined anything other than a serious relationship with Alice.

"Eeekk!" she screams, and I escape to the bathroom. It's way too early for this.

When I come out, she's still standing there, beaming as she follows me to the kitchen. "That's so great. And it's about time."

When I glance her way, I can't help but smile. Because she's right on both accounts. And it feels right, too. I've wanted Alice since the first moment I laid eyes on her, but I was too deep in my own head to notice—or admit it to myself.

"Are you going to go see her now?" she asks, cocking her head, and I swear hearts are going to pop out of her eyes soon .

"Um. Isn't it a little early?"

She gives me a pointed look. "It's ten. The bookstore opens at eleven on Sundays, so she's definitely up."

"Okay, yeah. I'll go."

She smiles and walks over to me, giving me a big hug. "I'm happy for you."

My heart swells. "Thank you, Lola."

For once, I'm happy. And that's a nice change of pace.

As I step onto the sidewalk, Mr. Darcy trots out to rub on my legs, so I pick him up.

"Hey, bud."

He purrs, which eases some of the stress and anxiety I'm feeling right now. I give him a kiss and put him back down. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," I say, squatting down to pet him one last time.

Standing back up, I take a deep breath and walk the few steps separating me from the bookstore.

The bell signals my entrance, and I find Hayley and Alice both behind the counter, looking at their computer screen. And all that anxiety dissolves instantly with Alice's smile .

She looks breathtaking as always in a casual pair of jeans, a pink top, and a " Sorry, I'm booked " brooch. I can't help but smile in return.

"Hey, you," she says, stepping around the counter while Hayley retreats to the back of the store, probably to give us some privacy.

"Hey, Frenchie."

The second she's in front of me, I pull her in for a kiss. Her floral perfume immediately transports me to a place where all is safe and warm, and I never want to leave.

I offer a featherlight kiss, gentler, more intimate than yesterday. It's slow and tender, my lips moving softly, savoring the taste of her. Her hands grasp my shoulders, and I reluctantly take a step back. When it comes to kissing Alice, I have a hard time stopping.

"Does that mean you're all in this time?" she asks, her deep brown eyes boring into mine. I notice a tiny flicker of doubt there, and I hate it.

"I am." I kiss her forehead. "All in. I wasn't thinking straight last time, when I said otherwise. The truth is, I've been dying to kiss you since the first time I met you."

She blushes, biting her lip.

"And every time you do that," I add.

"What are you talking about?" she teases, doing it again .

Taking the bait, I kiss her. On both cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her chin, and her lips, again and again and again.

"How's the bump on your head?" I ask, wincing as I catch sight of it. The bruise has turned yellow, and the swelling seems to be going down, but it still looks painful.

"Oh, it's fine," she says, shaking her head. "I've been icing it, and that seems to do the trick."

We both turn when the front door opens and a customer ventures in. Alice begins to greet her, but Hayley quickly takes over, giving Alice and me the chance to slip outside.

"I'm sorry, I have to work," she says, a hand on my chest. "I wish I could hang out today, but Emma's been covering for me and Hayley a lot lately. We have to catch up on some hours."

"Of course." I place a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I understand. Maybe you could come over for dinner tonight? I'll be closing the bar." I've been thinking of closing one Sunday a month so I can spend more time with Lola. Plus, the Raptors are on an away trip with no game tonight. Considering they and their friends are a big part of my clientele, it won't be a huge loss.

Her smile widens. "Of course. We close at six, so I'll come after that. "

"Perfect." I kiss her again before letting her go back in. As I stand on the sidewalk, I can't help but think how lucky I am to be dating this amazing girl. It feels weird to say that. I've never even wanted to date, and I never imagined Alice would ever be interested in someone like me. But she is, and my life is suddenly a lot fuller.