Page 64 of Seduce

“It’s a struggle at times. But I make it work.”

Damon nodded. “Can you get the strainer; it’s next to the sink under the silverware drawer.”

Tessa pulled it out and placed it in the sink. “What do you want to drink with dinner?” She moved the conversation on to better things.

* * * *

Tessa pulled into the parking lot of his bookstore. Damon noticed there were a lot more cars tonight. He climbed out of the vehicle and helped Tessa out.

“Is it me or does it look busier?” she said.

“It’s not you.” Damon guided her to the store and opened the door. Chaos.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re early,” Destiny said from behind the counter.

Damon stared at all the people. “What do you need?”

“There are a couple of guys in back looking for something special, another guy had a question about restraints, and there were some others I can’t remember right now.”

“On it.” Damon looked down at her.

“Go.” She waved her hands, then squeezed between two people in line with an excuse me and rounded the counter. “What can I do to help you?”

“Bag, please.”

“You got it.”

An hour later, Damon was pleased to see the line down to a few people, but the book club room was almost full. He put signs on seats in the back for his friends.

“I don’t understand. What happened?” Damon asked. Yes, the store made a good profit, but they had never been as busy as they were tonight.

“My fault,” Destiny said. “I thought maybe it would be a good idea to advertise the book club a little bit, so I had it put into the “What’s Happening” section of the online newspaper.”

“It caused all this?” Tessa asked.

“Apparently. I’m guessing people were afraid to come in here, but when they saw the ad, they felt better about it.”

“I get that. I remember when I first found out about the book club being in an adult shop, I wasn’t sure.”

“You weren’t?” Damon looked down at her.

“No. But Damon, your store isn’t what most of us think an adult store is like.”

“What do you mean?”

“She means those sleazy stores, with booths in the back, old geezers with pot bellies getting off, and in a part of town no one wants to visit,” Destiny said.

“I guess I never thought about it. I wanted something where people feel comfortable.”

“And that’s why it’s getting so popular.” Tessa smiled at him.

“Yeah, and I noticed something as we came in. I’m going to make a quick phone call.” Damon stepped outside the store. The building next to him was empty with a For Sale sign in the window. He called the number listed.

Damon had just hung up the phone when Max, Sierra, Jordan, and Crystal arrived. “What is going on? The parking lot is almost full.” Max asked.

“We’ve got a full house tonight. I’ll explain later.” They all traipsed inside. Damon didn’t want to lock the door, but he changed the sign toClosed – Book Club In Progressand went in back.

Destiny was at the front of the book club group, but Damon decided to stay by the doorway in case someone walked in.

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