18. Cheesy Quotes and Grand Openings

18

Cheesy Quotes and Grand Openings

Hayley

I wish I could have said yes to Maxime. I wish I was the kind of girl he could take to those opulent events. But I'm not. This body was made for T-shirts and jeans, not pretty dresses and heels.

Feeling particularly heavy today, I drag myself to the living room. I should be bursting with joy—we're opening our bookstore. Instead, I feel miserable because I'm keenly aware my insecurities are holding me back from doing the thing I want most: going out with Maxime. If only I had a normal body. If only I could be carefree instead of anticipating a breakup every time I look at him. If only I could just enjoy the time we have together. But no, my mind has to travel to the worst possible outcome. Because that's who I am, the girl who likes to know the ending before she even starts.

"You guys are still here?" I ask Emma and Alice. They're standing near the entrance, waiting for me. I'm running a bit late this morning and told them to go downstairs without me.

"Of course," Alice rasps between strangled coughs. Poor thing started to feel under the weather last night. Worst timing ever. "We're doing this together."

Emma nods. "After all this time talking about how amazing it'll be when we walk down to the store together on opening day, you bet your books we're waiting for you." She crosses her arms, trying to sport her usual grumpy face, but it's not working. Not on a day like this.

Today, we're living the dream. We're officially opening our bookstore. I get chills just thinking about it, and it's enough to shove all my troubles to the back burner .

Holding myself from jumping up and down, I feel suddenly lighter as I glide down the flight of stairs. We turn the lights on, and three full smiles break onto our faces.

"We're doing this, girls," I announce as I march in.

Mr. Darcy comes purring, and we all pet him. He's a part of this too. I even got him a little party hat for today.

I am in love with every part of this bookstore. The beautiful books perfectly organized by subgenre and heat level, the display window we worked so hard to put together, the bulletin board showcasing current ARC openings for our favorite authors, the annotation station, the flowers and plant decorations enhancing the charm of the place, the—

My train of thought screeches to a halt when I see the latest piece of decor hanging above the checkout desk. Written with black paint in cursive handwriting (I'm guessing, judging from the imperfections) is one of my favorite book quotes. "You and I are far from being perfect, but together, we'd give perfect a fighting chance."

My heart leaps, drops, and shoots for the stars all at once. It does about a billion different things, and at this point, I don't think it's even lodged in my ribcage anymore.

I don't have to think twice to figure out who the handwriting belongs to.

"Maxime," I breathe out. I keep my eyes fixated on the quote, afraid that if I blink, it might go away .

A hand presses my shoulder. "Yeah, my brother is full of surprises."

I turn around to face Alice. "Wait, you knew about this?"

She shakes her head. "He just said he wanted the keys last night, but I didn't know what he'd do. It's beautiful though, right? And it's the perfect fit for our romance bookstore."

"That line is cheesy as heck," Emma says, adjusting the flowerpot on the desk. "But it's one of my favorite contemporary romance quotes."

"Mine too," Alice and I both say, then chuckle.

"What's shocking is that he actually knew that quote," Alice jokes, which makes Emma laugh.

I glance at the floor. "Well, I've actually been giving him some book recs . . ."

"What?" Alice wears her shock all over her face, then breaks into a weird cough. "My brother? Reading ?"

I nod, unable to hold in my smile.

Her jaw drops. "Romance novels?"

"Yeah." I bite my lip, remembering those text conversations about my favorite books when he was on the road. "I think at first, he was just asking for the fun of it, but he likes it now. We were texting about it while he was away."

Alice's eyes widen further. "Wow. "

"Never would have pegged him for the reading type," Emma says, picking up Mr. Darcy, who's meowing at her feet, and slipping on the cute hat we got him. He tries to fight it off at first, but eventually he lets it go, accepting that it's now part of his life. Sometimes, I wish I could be more like Mr. Darcy.

Emma's right. Maxime turned out to be very different from what I imagined. And I can't believe he made this sign. It's the perfect way to fill up that blank space. For a second, I allow my mind to drift to that place I never dare venture. The one where I'm the heroine in the romance novel, and the hero is saying those wonderful things to me. What if it's true? What if Maxime is saying this line to me? The thought both makes my heart flutter and brings an icy chill to my skin. Because if he is, what do I do? Do I listen to my heart or my brain?

Am I Mr. Darcy, or just Hayley?

The day passes so fast, I don't have time to mull over my possible dilemma. It's a full house, and we barely have a second to breathe. There are far more people than we ever dreamed of hosting on opening day. Apparently, social media posts from famous hockey players have a pretty big influence on people's shopping decisions. Most of the players have already stopped by to show their support and buy a book or two, and even Coach Martin came in with his daughter, Marissa. She's in her twenties, just like us, and an avid romance reader. She ended up buying a significant portion of our stock.

A few local newscasters dropped by during the day as well—courtesy of Coach Martin—and even a few of our favorite local authors swung by to sign some of their books. We have a local author display table showcasing them.

So far, this day has been perfect. I glance at my watch again. We're closing in three hours, and still no sign of Maxime. Maybe I was being delusional earlier when I thought that quote had anything to do with me. He knows it's from a popular romance novel and that the other girls like it too. Plus, I did reject him yesterday. I'm the one who has to show up if I want to see him, not the other way around.

For now, I try to focus on the store. I help a few customers out, and every time someone walks up to the register with a book I recommended, I'm filled with joy and pride. I am loving every single part of this .

I'm hustling toward the front of the store when I see him, Maxime Beaumont, hotter than the sun itself, browsing for books, a large stack balanced in his hand.

"Hey," I say, stopping next to him.

His eyes fall on me, and the corners crinkle with a smile. "Nash! Just the girl I was looking for. Should I pick this one, or this one?" He points to two fantasy romance books.

I suck in a breath, trying to play it cool. "Getting your fantasy game on, are you?"

"Yep. You said I had to live up to fantasy creatures to get your attention, so I need to know who I'm up against." The corner of his lip lifts to a side grin and I struggle to keep a straight face.

"Absolutely." I nod. "In that case, those are excellent choices."

"Okay." He chuckles, then picks up both books and adds them to his already large pile.

"Do you need help with that?" I joke. "We do have baskets at the front of the store."

"No, I'm good. I think I have everything I need."

"I'd say so," I tease, not able to meet his gaze. "You're set for quite a while there." Is there anything sexier than a man holding a stack of books? I don't think so.

Together, we walk up to the register, and Alice seems relieved to see me.

"Ah, there you are. Can you take over? My head is burning up."

I frown as I take her spot. "Sure. Maybe go lie down for a bit."

"What's wrong?" Max asks Alice, placing his hand on her arm.

"I've been sick since last night," she says, glancing at me before coughing again. Poor Alice. Max frowns, and they exchange a look as I take her spot behind the counter. They mumble something to each other, and even though I can't make out the words, I'm sure Maxime is being the thoughtful brother I know he can be.

"Yeah, I think I will go lie down for a while," Alice says with another throat-ripping cough. "See you guys later."

Max nods, turning back to me as I'm finishing scanning his purchases. I read him his outrageous grand total. Second-biggest order of the day. He's far behind Marissa, but I don't think anyone in our store's history will ever beat her.

He slides his credit card through the reader, and as I hand him the receipt, his eyes shoot up to the quote hanging above us .

"Thank you," I say, daring to plunge my gaze into his. "For the quote. It's beautiful. And perfect."

He takes the receipt. "I thought it would be a shame to have an empty wall on opening day. I knew how much it bothered you, and that you really loved that quote."

I bite my lip, looking away. "Yeah."

He sways on his feet. "Alice and Emma too, so it works perfectly."

Swallowing, I bring my eyes back to him. "Yeah, it was a great idea. Well, I guess I'll see you soon?" I glance behind him to where two customers are waiting in line.

"Right. Thanks for the rec," he says, lifting his bag full of books. "I'll go check on my sister."

I attend the next customer, trying to put that exchange behind me. But it's hard to think straight. The quote, him coming here today to buy books, the way he looks at me. It's all just too strong to push down and it messes with my head.

Just as I finish with the next customer in line, my eyes are drawn to the front door, and what I see almost makes me drop the customer's bag of books.

My mother and two of her friends are here. When they enter the store and come across Maxime, he and my mom hug like long-lost friends and start chatting. I'm not sure what's more shocking. The fact that Maxime is so at ease around my mom—and vice versa—or that my mom is actually here.

The latter. Definitely. Ever since I told her about the store, she's been calling it "my little project with my friends," and now, she's here. Supporting it.

The three women follow Maxime into the store, and since the line is empty, I join them near the display table.

"Mom, Eileen, Leanne. Hi!" I say, hugging them in turn. "What are you doing here?"

"This is fantastic, honey," Mom says, looking around. "We just thought we'd stop by to check it out. We do love to read, you know."

Leanne and Eileen begin browsing a couple of books, and Maxime immediately starts explaining the trope cards and asking them what kind of books they read.

I shoot him a questioning glance, but he just winks at me, guiding the pair to the Contemporary Romance section.

"I'm so glad you're here," I tell my mom. "How did you even know we were opening today?"

"Maxime told me. He called me a couple of days ago to say I should come and have a look. And I'm glad I did. I never imagined it would be like this. So grown-up."

Max called my mom and asked her to stop by today? That man is full of surprises, and with every move he makes, it's getting harder and harder to push my feelings down.