Page 113 of Will Bark for Pizza
“Youcan,” Grandma Connie said, her tone the perfect medicine to soothe my fears. My rising heart rate started to fall.
“We don’t mean to push,” Betty added. “But imagine how well our grand re-opening would go if we paired it with Diana Davenport’s first book signing?”
“With these exclusive special edition books readers can only get here,” Carlos added.
Lila looked at me, her expression a mixture of sympathy and excitement. “All you have to do is show up with a pen and smile, babe. We got the rest.”
“Your mom would love it,” Lotti said, her wordsdelicate yet excited. As though she didn’t want to guilt me into saying yes but still kind of hoped her tactic worked.
I jumped at the loudthuda stack of boxes made when Beckett dropped them near the back.
“Sorry,” he said, sending me an apologetic grin.
“Beckett, come here,” Thelma insisted.
Lila gripped my wrist, squeezing until I met her gaze.Does he know?she mouthed.
I nodded.
Apparently, my nod gave Lila permission to go, well, full Lila.
“Beckett, we want your opinion on something,” Lila said sweetly, reaching for the special edition ofForever Forbidden,my personal favorite of the bunch. “What do you think of this book?”
Beckett took it from Lila, as my heart pounded loudly in my ears. I didn’t know why his opinion mattered to me. Just because he knew my secret author identity that I suspected was not going to stay secret much longer, the chances he’d ever pick up a Diana Davenport book on his own were slim at best. He wasn’t my target reader. It shouldn’t matter. And yet, it did.
I braced, expecting the worst.
“This is your book?” he asked, his sparkling eyes betraying genuine excitement.
“Lila had them made,” I said sheepishly, as though I were speaking to some junior high crush instead of a man I’d come to consider a friend. And I was doing it in front of an audience.
“This is amazing, Kira,” Beckett said, the approval in his tone sending ripples of warmth throughout my body.My shyness evaporated, morphing into something else entirely as the memory of sliding down that hard body only a few minutes ago came rushing back to me.
“Thanks,” I said, lucky I was able to choke out that single word.
“We want your opinion on something else,” Thelma said, sounding like she meant business.
“Yeah?”
“We think Kira should do a book signing,” Lotti offered. “To coincide with the grand re-opening.”
Beckett trained his gaze on me in a way that made the chatter of the people around me muffled and quiet. The background went a little blurry. It was as though there was only Beckett, me, and the special edition book in his hands. “How do you feel about that?”
“Me?”
“You are the author,” he said, a smile tugging at one corner of his lips.
I wanted to tell him all my fears. That I’d never done an in-person signing before. That I feared no one would show up and I would let everyone down when they realized I wasn’t as big a deal as they thought. That if anyone did show up, they’d mock the very books that made me an author.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Sometimes, the things that scare us the most are the ones most worth doing.”
Anotherplopof boxes startled me from the intimate moment. Several sets of eyes locked on the two of us, and the heat of a blush crept up my neck.
“Well?” Dylann asked expectantly.
“Okay,” I said quietly.
“Okay?” Lila repeated.
