Wish I Might

Chapter 1-2

“Thank you. Really. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been willing to take a chance on hiring me.”

Reed Campbell shut the register drawer and looked at his newest employee. In her late thirties, Brenda Walker had just emerged from a vicious divorce, wherein her cheating bastard of an ex had traded her in for a younger model. Stress had whittled her down, and bitterness had carved deep grooves around what might’ve been a pretty mouth if she smiled. She had no retail experience to speak of, having spent the duration of her marriage as trophy wife to a cardiologist, but she knew books. An avid reader and long-time customer of Inglenook well before Reed bought the place, Brenda had been a familiar face as long as he could remember. She’d worked on a number of literacy campaigns with his mother over the years. Offering her a job had seemed like the obvious and kind thing to do, even before his mom started pressuring him to do it.

A good thing, too, as there was no chance of saying “no” to Anita Campbell.

“You’re a smart woman. You’d have figured something out.”

“Yes, well, I’m grateful to you that I don’t have to.” Brenda did smile then, and something about that curve of lips and the tone of her voice had a wisp of unease blooming.

Surely, she wasn’t flirting with him?

She laid a hand on his arm, her thumb lightly stroking the underside of his forearm. “It’s nice to know that there are still some kind men out there.”

Nope. He wasn’t imagining it. Brenda was actually coming onto him.

Shit.

Reed resisted the urge to jerk away. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings or shatter whatever nascent confidence she’d managed to rebuild in the wake of her divorce. But he had to shut this down in a hurry. What could he do? What could he say that wouldn’t embarrass them both?

The door chime sounded, and Brenda’s hand fell away as they both turned toward it.

Saved by the bell.

All thoughts of his cougar problem evaporated, replaced by surprise as the woman stepped through the door.

Razor sharp wit, brilliant mind, and geektastic sense of humor, all wrapped up in effortless class. Cecily Dixon. The one who got away.

With a population of only a little over five thousand, Wishful was small enough that they ran into each other often—at the coffee shop, at McSweeney’s Market, on the town green. Since her boss was about to marry Reed’s cousin, Cam, he even occasionally saw Cecily at family events. But at no point in the last three months had she deliberately sought him out. So what had brought her in today?

Christoff Bergan, the other Chicago transplant who’d followed Norah below the Mason-Dixon line, came in behind her.

“Back again?” Reed asked him.

“I’m just riding shotgun with the damsel in distress.”

Cecily rolled her eyes and crossed over to the counter. When she came straight to him instead of diverting to Brenda, Reed felt a surge of curiosity and hope.

“I need your help.”

“Name it.” He’d do almost anything to make up for the crap impression he’d apparently left her with back in the summer.

“My cousin’s birthday is next week, and I’m not going to make it home for the party, so I want to send a nice care package.”

“Okay, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, she’s really into comics, but I have no idea what she’s read and what she hasn’t. And as my knowledge of the subject extends only as far as exactly how many plot holes Chris Hemsworth’s abs make up for, I thought I’d consult someone who was rather more of an expert.”

Reed felt his lips twitch. “I can’t decide if that was a compliment or an insult to both my abs and my level of pure geek.”

“You can talk pure geek when you can quote the entirety of Pitch Perfect, including all the music and choreography—”

“—while under the influence of a pitcher of strawberry daiquiris,” Christoff added.

Reed lifted a brow.

“Yeah, that happened.” Cecily shrugged and dropped her gaze to his stomach, as if she could see through the button-down he wore. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure your Captain America board shorts were a compliment to both abs and geekdom.”

He flashed back to summer, to the feel of her hand trailing up and down his chest as they lay by the lake, watching the stars and lightning bugs come out.

“So maybe you could channel some of your natural Steve Rogers and help a girl out?”

Reed blinked, coming back to the now and hoping she meant post-super serum Steve. Putting on his best Chris Evans impression, he said, “Happy to help, ma’am. Right this way.”

He led her over to the wall of comics and graphic novels. “Tell me a bit about your cousin.”

“She’s turning seventeen. She’s brilliant and independent and stubborn and fierce in the best possible way.”

“So she’s your mini me.”

Cecily cut her eyes to his, a faint wash of pink staining her cheeks. “She also towers over me by a good five inches.”

“What you lack in stature, you make up for in personality.”

She flashed a rueful smile. “Yeah, let’s go with that. Anyway, I’d love to introduce her to something new and awesome.”

“Well, if I was going for new and awesome, with fantastic art, and a serious showcase for strong women, I’d give her this.” Reed reached past her to grab an issue off the shelf.

Cecily sucked in a quiet breath, drawing his gaze to her mouth. He’d only kissed her once—a languorous exploration that’d slid a long-running flirtation into serious what the hell had taken him so long. Looking at those glossy, pink lips, he wanted to do it again. Did she still taste like honeysuckle?

Reed realized he was all up in her space, but before he eased back, he shifted toward her, just a little. She didn’t move back, and her dove gray eyes dilated before they dropped to his mouth.

Not disinterest then. Whatever had gone wrong between them hadn’t been about lack of attraction. Reed filed that away.

“Dark Defenders is a noir style comic with a lady hero. She’s kind of a ’40s vigilante—think Agent Carter meets Batman. She has a small support team a la Team Arrow, including a detective in the local precinct, who she saves from getting shot by the big crime boss.”

“Please tell me there’s a will they/won’t they almost romance.”

Is that what this is? “Naturally. It’s an indie published comic by S.J. Wayfield that’s been taking the comic world by storm. But it’s pretty new, so unless your cousin keeps up with the cutting edge, she probably hasn’t read it.”

“Works for me.”

“You want to just grab the first issue for her to try or the first collected volume? That’s the first eight.”

“Volume.”

“Excellent choice.” Reed grabbed the relevant volume, and they headed for the register. “So, how’s the job search going?”

“It’s…going. I’ve had a few interviews, but nothing that I really want.”

He sensed reluctance rather than disappointment under that statement. She loved Wishful. He knew she did. And that gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, she wanted to stay. If she did, if she could, he might get another shot.

“Well, good luck. I’m sure the right thing will come along. Brenda, you want to take this one?”

“Sure.” Brenda offered up a genuine, if rusty, smile.

Reed kept an eye on the transaction, but she rang up the purchase with no problems. She’d be fine on the register while he did some work on inventory.

Cecily lifted her bag in salute. “Thanks for the recs. I’m sure Blair will love them.”

“Happy to help.” If he asked her out right now, what would she say? He still hadn’t sorted out what had gone wrong. Better to think things through before acting.

When they’d gone, Brenda shook her head. “So strange.”

On his way back to the tiny room that housed his office, Reed paused. “What is?”

“Her friend just bought out every copy of this month’s M & S.”

“Really?” That was strange. M & S wasn’t one they usually sold out of, certainly not days after release. And Christoff had already bought a copy the first time he’d come in. “Weird.” Making a mental note to order more, he retreated to his office to hide from the cougar on the prowl.