She punched his arm.
“Ow! Okay, I won’t hate you. But what if you go in there and end up with twelve guys all looking to woo their way into your pants?”
“Oh… right. Damn.” She fell silent and looked out the window.
Though she was trying not to pout, she must have looked disappointed, because Will rolled his eyes and said, “Fine. I’ll go with you to take the coins to her. But if she starts hitting on me, I’m out of there.”
“Deal.”
*
She’d named her store Bright Ideas.
Emmy and Will stood outside staring in silence for a conspicuously long time, but Emmy was too preoccupied to care if she earned some funny looks.
“This is…” she said, not knowing how to finish the thought.
“Yeah.”
“What does she even sell here?”
Emmy studied the window display, saw a vase bursting with flowers on a tiny end table that appeared to be made, at least in part, of old license plates. Beside the table was an easy chair that sported a cushion with Rosie the Riveter on it. The words “Girl Boss” occupied the speech bubble in lieu of “We Can Do It!”
“Jury’s still out,” Will said in response to her question. “Let’s get this over with.”
They pushed their way inside. Aside from two old women who were browsing and chattering, Emmy didn’t see any other people in the store. Most importantly, she didn’t see any sexy men (besides Will). She hadn’t been accosted at all since going out with Will. She had a shopping bag loadedwith clothes dangling from her hand, and she’d purchased them without so much as a single unwanted “Hey there.”
They found Bright at the register, rearranging a display of… yep, those were bracelets made out of denim. Jean bracelets. Jacelets? When Bright saw Will, she smiled broadly.
“Hey, you! Welcome to Bright Ideas. Thanks for coming!”
“Yeah, no problem,” Will mumbled, taking the coins out of his pocket and placing them unceremoniously on the counter. “Feel free to toss these if you can’t find a use for them.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something.” She swept them off the counter and into her hand. “Thank you so much!”
“Did you make everything in here yourself?” Emmy asked.
Bright blinked at her as if she hadn’t realized Emmy was there. Then the smile was back. “Not all of it. Some of the pieces are acquired from local artists, but I found all the antiques you see on display, and I restored some of the wood furniture. I mostly make jewelry and decorative items. We hope everyone can find something unique here. Variety is the name of the game.” She shook her head, looking a little self-conscious. “I’m sorry. I’m giving you the whole sales pitch and I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Bright.”
“Emmy.”
“Nice to meet you, Emmy. Feel free to browse. Let me know if anything catches your eye. I’m just going to put these in the back so I don’t lose them.”
With that, she walked away. Not even a wink or a flirtatious giggle for Will. They stood there for a few seconds,then Emmy shrugged. “She doesn’t look how I pictured her, but she’s sweet. Pretty. You sure you don’t want to…”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Okay, well she didn’t appear overly interested in you. Did you have any sense that you were acting out a scene there?”
“Maybe for the first part, but as soon as you spoke to her, that feeling went away. Did you see her face? It was like talking to you broke her out of the scene.”
The idea hit them at the same time, and they turned to stare at each other wide-eyed. When they were together, men didn’t hit on Emmy, and Bright didn’t hit on Will.
Emmy couldn’t believe it. Not only had the events of her life led her to be trapped in a romance novel, but to add insult to injury, they were going to have to rely on one of the most clichéd and contrived romantic comedy plots known to man.
They were going to have to pretend to be in a relationship.
Nine
