“Oh mygod, Reese.” Rolling her eyes, Poppy releases her death grip on my hand to stride forward and physically shove Reese toward the front door. “I have known Bram Thorne my entire life. I’ll befine.”
“You sure? I don’t mind sticking around for a bit.”
“Reese, if you don’t get the fuck out of my store, I’m calling the cops onyou.”
Pausing at the front door, Reese looks down at the tiny bookstore owner, her lips twitching. “You’re going to call my own men to come arrest me?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll call the FBI. Whatever it takes for you to get out of my shop.”
“Fine. I’m going. But make sure you lock this door behind me.”
“I can’t lock the door if you never fuckingleave.”
The sheriff’s eyes narrow. “One of these days, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap, little girl.”
“So you keep saying. Goodbye, Reese!”
With another shove, the sheriff steps out onto the sidewalk and Poppy flips the lock and sags against the glass door. “Finally. I thought she’d never leave.”
“Does Sheriff Donnelly spend a lot of time here?” Now that I’m over the shock of seeing her, my romance-author radar is pinging like crazy.
Rolling her eyes again, Poppy shoves away from the door. “Yes. Honestly, some days I’m not sure how she actually gets any work done since she’s always here. Of course, in a town the size of ours there probably isn’t much for her to do, but still. She’s a pain in my fucking ass.”
“Language, Poppy,” Daddy scolds mildly. “I don’t let my Josie use those words, either.”
“Seriously? What is it with you people? They’re just words.”
“They are grown-up words and not appropriate for Little girls.”
Oh mygod. He did not just say that.
Before Poppy can give voice to the confusion I can see stamped all over her face, I grab her hand and pull her toward the back room. “Ignore him. I wanna see what you got for our event!”
The distraction works. Seemingly forgetting entirely about Daddy’s “Little girls” comment, Poppy squeals happily as we head toward the back room. “Okay, so, my thought was we do like a play on how spicy your books are. Something with, you know, ‘steamy romance to keep you warm’ since it’s so fuc—freaking cold here until like, April.”
“Oh that sounds like fun! We should…” My words trail off as I step into a large storeroom where Poppy has set up a long table with several boxes of books.
Mybooks.
Holy crap.
Somewhat awestruck, I reach into the first box and pull out my latest release,Anna’s Ruin. “Poppy. How many books did you order?”
“Ah… I don’t know. Like five to ten of each from your last three series? Oh and a couple of my personal favorites from your earlier series.”
Gripping my book in my hand, I can only stare at her. “Poppy, that’s… that’s way too many books.”
“Nonsense. You’re Marjorie Kincaid. People are going to be lining up out the freaking door to come see you.”
Embarrassment heats my cheeks. “You’re very sweet.”
“I’m not.” Setting the pile of books she’s just pulled from a box aside, she turns to face me, her expression suddenly that of a very serious, very shrewd businesswoman. “Look, Josie. I am one of your biggest fans. But I’m also part owner of this very tiny shop. Our profit margins are basically nonexistent. So what I’mnotgoing to do is waste a ton of capital on an idea that I don’t actively believe in one thousand percent. I invested in your books because I know, for a fact, you will bring me big fucking business—shut up, Bram. Now, are you going to help me so I can make us both some money, or are you going to stand there and keep denying what a big fucking deal you are?”
“She’s right, bug.” At my Daddy’s quiet words, I turn to face him, and there’s no denying the truth I see in his eyes. Stepping forward, he cups my face in his hands, running the pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones. “You’re an incredible writer and I’m so fucking proud of you, baby.”
“You are?” For a moment, I’m so overwhelmed by hearing him say he’s proud of me that the first part of his sentence doesn’t click. But then it does and horror wells up inside me. “Wait. You’vereadmy books?”
“Of course I’ve read your books.” His gentle smile turns wolfish as he reaches over to pick up what is arguably my darkest book to date. “There’s a scene from this one I’m particularly curious to try out.”
