She wove between customers in her emerald velvet gown, the fabric swishing against the worn hardwood floors as she approached. “Flint needs you in the office.”
I looked up from the display table I’d been arranging, a stack of romantasy novels balanced in my arms. “Now? We’re in the middle of the event.”
“He said it was important.” Shelly grinned, adjusting the silver circlet perched on her dark curls. “Something about inventory numbers that don’t add up.”
I sighed and handed her the books. “Fine. Can you finish setting up the giveaway basket?”
“Already on it, boss.”
I smoothed down the skirts of my regal burgundy gown and touched the fake fae ears tucked into my hair. My braid hung down my back, threaded with gold ribbon that Gwen had insisted on weaving into it this morning. She’d saideverybookstore owner deserved to feel like a queen at her own event.
My husband, of course, had refused to dress up.
When I’d shown him the fae king costume I’d ordered online, complete with pointed ear prosthetics and a golden crown, he’d laughed so hard he’d nearly choked on his coffee.
“Not a chance in hell, babe,” he’d said, kissing my forehead before pulling on his typical red flannel and worn jeans.
I smiled at the memory as I made my way through the crowded store.
It had been a magical year with him. Bookish was thriving under our partnership, our love life was better thananythingI’d ever imagined, and Becky had delivered the ultimate “I told you so” when I’d called her ten months ago saying we needed to book a date at the Little Pink Wedding Chapel because we couldn’t wait another day before tying the knot.
“Avery! You look gorgeous!” Martha Ellis appeared at my elbow, resplendent in a deep purple gown with silver embroidery along the bodice. A tiara sat crooked on her gray curls.
“So do you, Martha. Is that new?”
“Ordered it special from that online shop you recommended,” she patted my arm conspiratorially. “Though I must say, your husband looked decidedly un-festive behind that register earlier on. Maybe you should lock him in the backstock room if he doesn’t want to participate in the proper way today.”
I laughed. “You know Flint. Getting him into costume would require an act of divine intervention.”
“Well, you keep working on him, dear. A man that handsome would make a wonderful fae warrior.”
I promised to try, then continued weaving through the crowd to the back of the store.
The bookstore looked incredible tonight. Fairy lights twinkled from the ceiling beams like captured stars. The reading nook that Flint had renovated last year now featured velvet cushions, and we’d scattered rose petals across the granite tabletop.
“Avery!” Gwen swooped in, her hair piled high and adorned with tiny flowers. “The photo booth is a hit. We’ve already had a hundred people post their photos on social media.”
“That’s amazing! Have you seen the turnout? I think half the town showed up.”
“More than half.” Gwen squeezed my hand. “You and Flint have really built something special here.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest. We had.Together.
I spotted Becky near the romance section, holding court while explaining the finer points of the enemies-to-lovers trope to a group of fascinated tourists. She caught my eye and winked.
“Heading to find your king?” she called out.
“Something like that.”
Finally, I reached the back corridor that led past the storeroom to Marlene’s old office.Ouroffice now. I pushed open the door without knocking, already forming a question about what inventory issue couldpossiblybe urgent enough to pull me away from the event.
But the question died on my lips.
Flint was leaning against the desk, his hands pressed flat on its surface, propping himself up with that casual masculine confidence that still made my knees weak even after a year of marriage.
His red flannel stretched across his broad shoulders, and his hazel eyes fixed on me with a deep intensity.
But that wasn’t what made me freeze in the doorway.
