The Wrong Mr. Right (Queen's Cove, #2)

by Stephanie Archer

Wyatt Rhodes was in my bookstore. My gaze snagged on his abs. There were so many of them, stacked on top of each other like books on the shelf beside him. Abs for days.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Wyatt. Everyone liked Wyatt. He was impossible not to like. It was that I had had a crush on Wyatt for as long as I could remember, and I had no freaking clue how to talk to him.

“Why do you want my copy of Pride and Prejudice?” she answered as soon as I called her back. “I want to read it.” She snorted. “Why?” “I’m curious about it.” I pictured Hannah’s eyes lighting up, talking about it. There must be something good in that book.

“Don’t bother. Don’t drink something you don’t like. Order the good stuff next time, Hannah. Order what you like. You deserve it.” He was watching me in an intense way that made my stomach flutter.

He watched me, listening closely, and my mouth snapped shut. He sipped his beer, waiting for me to go on. My face heated. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.” He blanched and laughed. “Do what? Listen while you talk?”

She sealed the box up and cleared her throat. “How’s your dad?”

“Yep. Does my dad come in a lot?” My dad didn’t like sweets. When she turned, her smile strained. “Sometimes.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and what was the deal with you asking people out while he supervised?” “What???” Avery’s pitch was so high, it could have cracked the TV screen. I did my best to skewer Max with my eyes. He fought a grin, staring at the TV. “I thought you were just here to watch TV.” “I’m shutting up now.” He stuffed half a cupcake in his mouth.

Div cleared his throat. “There was a blog post.” Avery and I whipped our heads at him in unison. “What?”

“Are millennials desperate?” I read. “Hannah Nielsen of Pemberley Books aggressively pursued all men in the vicinity on Thursday.”

“Holden’s a babe,” Max added. Avery made a face. “He’s my brother-in-law, dude.” He shrugged. “I don’t care. He’s hot.”

“Okay, but Beck?” Avery raised an eyebrow. “Beck is cute. Paging Dr. Gorgeous, am I right?” Max nodded and fake coughed. “Doctor, I think I’m sick.” A giggle ripped out of me, and Avery snorted.

“That I’ll get out there and choke.” Again. “That I’ll do well, place in the competition, and have to leave Queen’s Cove.”

Was Wyatt jealous? No. No way. Wyatt didn’t get jealous. He only cared about surfing.

He glanced down at me with one of those quick smiles that people put on to make the situation lighter. A this is not a big deal kind of smile. The one I used all the time.

He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. “I was jealous, okay? I’m jealous because he looks at you like he wants to fuck you.” His jaw ticked.

He was nice, but he wasn’t flirty. Was he? Oh my god. Had Beck been flirting with me and I didn’t realize it?

“I think you’re on a date with the wrong guy, Hannah.”

How he winced as he implied I was a bad date.

Wyatt. I had talked about Wyatt the whole time.

“Sometimes I think that I’m turning into a new person.” I chewed my lip and thought about it. “But then I wonder, maybe this is who I actually am, and I was holding myself back from everything good.”

“Because I liked the idea of it.” My brain skidded like it was slipping on ice. “But you…” I wasn’t sure how to word it. “Yeah, I know.” His teeth scored my skin and I sucked a breath in. “Just wanted you to know that.”

“It’s so cool that you sell romance,” Tasha added quietly. She rolled her eyes at herself. “I mean, I know they’re dumb.” I held a hand up to stop her. “They’re not dumb, they’re awesome. Things aren’t dumb because women like them.”

“Miri, please stop interrogating my girlfriend.” Wyatt towered over the table with two new salt-rimmed drinks and a smirk. Girlfriend? My stomach rolled forward.

“I’m coming with you if the offer still stands. Wherever you go, I want to be there too, because I love you. And I’m in love with you. I lied when I said you were my practice guy.” Her face crumpled. “That was a terrible, terrible lie, and I said it because I wanted to make it sound like you didn’t mean anything but you do.” Her gaze lifted to me, pained and full of affection. “You mean everything to me. I want to be brave with you.”