Eric
If this is what owning the bookstore means, then I’m glad that I’ve decided to make this investment. This newcomer, Elia, that just walked in a few minutes ago is gorgeous, and she’s flirting with me like crazy.
I’m still holding her hand after I pressed my lips to it. She snatches it back. I almost laugh when she holds it tenderly against her chest, her face growing redder by the second. Elia can’t seem to decide if she wants to be flirting with me or not, and I like the idea that she’s losing her self-control right now. That’s always a good effect to have on women.
“What time were you supposed to start?” I ask. “I can see that Dana’s pretty frustrated, must have been a while ago.” I can’t help but tease her.
“You’re looking to buy the place, huh?”
I avoid her question, seeing as she avoided mine.
“You must be more than a little late to just be coming into work.” I continue teasing her, making a serious face as best I can, though a smile is tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Or do you guys work in shifts? Because I’ve been here with your friend for more than an hour, and she’s been doing all the work on her own. Where have you been, Elia?” I emphasize her name just see the effect it might have on her.
But she’s no longer flirting, crossing her arms now. She narrows her eyes at me for a second.
“My alarm didn’t go off. My phone’s old and I should probably buy a new one since this isn’t the first time it’s happened. If Dana hadn’t woken me up, then who knows what time I would’ve got in!” Elia sounds exasperated, which is pretty much the worse thing to be when starting your workday. She shakes her head. “To make matters worse, there was traffic on the way.”
“If you’d been here on time, then you wouldn’t have been stuck in traffic.” Yeah. I couldn’t help myself.
She’s lost for words, momentarily.
Elia looks adorable when she’s flustered but I should probably stop teasing her…soon. “I didn’t even know the store was for sale. Ryan never said that she was selling. How do I know that you’re buying it? You could be looking for bookstore secrets.” She waves a book at me.
This girl just works in the bookstore, and she’s being challenging. More than the owner, Ryan, was when I made him an offer! Still, I love that she’s teasing me back at least. The whole refusing to answer questions thing, would is not a thing that would normally what would excite me, but everything about Elia has me intrigued.
She moves around as if she’s going to start working, even though her purse is still strapped safely around her arm. She looks like someone looking to purchase a book, not someone who works here. It’s as if she’s completely lost and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Have I thrown her so off balance? I lick my lips, liking the thought of that.
“The shop wasn’t for sale until I made an offer,” I tell Elia. “Besides, I’ll have to take another look at the profit and loss statements if this bookstore is doing so poorly that the staff can’t even afford phones or even an alarm clock to get to work on time.”
She stops in her tracks, turning to look at me. I can't tell what Elia’s thinking right now, but I want to know.
“I’m looking to expand my investment portfolio into bookstores. I’m hoping to buy up all the indie bookstores in one region, and then expand to another. Most indie stores are suffering when it comes to sales and profits but I’d like to fix that with the money my trading and medical practice afford me.”
I’m not sure what Elia thinks of my words, but she looks like she’s considering them. My plan is to give it my best shot, and if it’s entirely impossible, I’ll back off. Oh, and you don’t think I’m just talking about the investments anymore, right? Because even though there’s the conflict of interest coming if and when I buy this bookstore, I know that I plan to pursue Elia beyond teasing her inside the store.
“Are you sure that you spoke to the owner, Ryan?” Elia didn’t sound frustrated but concerned. I’m intrigued. “He wouldn’t want to see his bookstore, the one that’s been in his family for years get turned into a fidget spinner store.”
Oh, well Elia seems to assume that the owner will assume I’m going to slash apart everything that makes a bookstore good when I buy it, which I guess is fair. A lot has to be done in the name of profit, but I’d make a wiser investment than a bookstore if I wanted to do that much of an overhaul.
“No, he was too busy worrying about the fact that you weren’t at work,” I say with a smile. We both know that Ryan’s not involved in the day-to-day operations. That’s one of the reasons I think he’ll sell to me. He isn’t selling to a big box giant, just the friendly neighborhood billionaire doctor. Wouldn’t you?
“Well, I’m here now,” Elia says. Despite me teasing her again, I can tell she’s done with the flirting portion of our conversation.
Well, she thinks she is.
Elia’s moving away from me. Probably too scared of what I’ll say next. She has a fucking answer for everything and I find it sexy as hell. I should stay away from teasing her, but I’m already hooked on getting to know her and hearing more of her sassy comebacks.
“Your accent.” She points at my lips and then flips her dark hair.
Mmm, maybe she isn’t done flirting after all.
“It’s not from here. It’s a Yankee accent.” Elia narrows her eyes at me again, but this time she’s smiling, and she’s teasing me all over again.
I nod my head.
Elia cocks her head to the side. “Now, tell me, Dr. Bookstore, why would someone from New York want to buy a store in Texas? It just makes no sense.”
I lean closer to Elia, expecting her to move away from me.
She doesn’t.
“Maybe you won’t make it through the new company’s payroll, then,” I say just to mess with her. “After all, you have difficulty coming to work on time, which isn’t fair to all the other employees. Is it?” Not that I’ve never been late a day in my life, but punctuality is something I look for in people that work for me. I can see it bothers her that she’s late, though. I sort of moved beyond teasing with this one, and I wonder if I have gone too far.
Elia doesn’t move back an inch. “Maybe I have better plans. I can think of doing something more interesting than working for a fidget spinner owner.” I see her breath catch in her throat.
Elia wants to have the last word and I let her get away with it, and not just because I’m loving watching her walk away.
I watch her walk right out of the store.
Damn, this girl is kind of a wild, crazy mess. I want to know where she's going…