Gaming for Love (6 page)

I take out my phone and
enter it into my calendar. “Done. I’ll be there. Anything else I
can help you with?”

“Actually, there is.
I’m so bored at home. Could I help you here?”

“Oh Alex, I would
love to have you help me. But I can’t afford to take on any more
employees right now. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to
pay me. Could I just volunteer? Maybe help with story time or shelve
books?”

“I would love to have
you volunteer! Are you sure it’s okay with your grandparents?”

“Is what okay with
her grandparents?” Gary asks from behind me.

“Alex was asking if
she could volunteer here to get out of the house,” I explain.

“That’s a fabulous
idea! Just coordinate the days and times and we’ll make sure she’s
here. You always manage to bring a smile to our girl’s face and I
would love to see that more often.”

I’m about to tell him
that she makes me smile too when I spot Hank from Office Depot
entering the store. I excuse myself and meet him by the cash wrap. “I
didn’t order anything this week Hank.”

“This is a special
delivery for you today,” he says with a smile motioning to the box
he has placed on the counter.

“A special delivery”
I ask in confusion. “What is it?”

He opens the box with a
flourish while he says, “One of every type of pen in our store!”

I look inside the box
in shock seeing everything from the expensive ones I have salivated
over to the cheap ones that I have passed up. And oh holy hell, there
is every color of Sharpie and Sharpie pen imaginable in there. This
box is a thing of beauty.

As I am still standing
there with my mouth open, Hank tells me, “This goes along with the
box.” He hands me an envelope.

Yasmin
is written on it. My
heart starts beating and I know who it is from before I open it.

My Dearest Yasmin,

I am hoping that this letter finds you well.

OK, that is all the fancy shit I can write. I know you want to be
wooed but you said that I can do it my way so here goes.

I didn’t want to get you flowers yet because I can’t decide
what kind I want to get you and I don’t know what you like. The
same with chocolates. I don’t know what you like there, either.
But, I DO know that you like pens, all pens, you said. So, here are
lots and lots of pens. I hope you put them to good use and don’t
just keep them in the box looking pretty. Can pens look pretty? Fuck
if I know. But I guess they may be pretty to you. I do know you’re
gorgeous to me and I hope this gift makes you feel special. Text me
when you get this—if you want…

Scott

Oh my God! I am being
wooed, really wooed and he started with pens! PENS! I could probably
die happy from this right now. Okay, not really, because he hasn’t
even kissed me yet, but I feel like I could burst with happiness. I
am definitely going to text him, but first I have a letter to write.

“Can you guys take a
letter to Scott for me? It should only take me a few minutes to write
it,” I ask when I walk back to Alex and Gary.

“Sure,” Gary says
to me with amusement in his eyes.

“Was that box from
Uncle Scott? It looked like it was from Office Depot,” Alex asks me
with confusion on her face.

“It
is
from him and it is also from Office Depot. He bought me pens, lots of
pens. Let me grab one and I’ll get that letter written!” I smile
at her as I turn to go grab a pen. But, which one?

“Are you and Uncle
Scott going out?” Alex asks me as I search through the box.

“No, we aren’t.
We’re just friends right now.” I grab a green Sharpie from the
box and turn to her. “If we did decide to date, though, would that
be alright with you?”

“That would be
awesome!” she replies. I look up at Gary, who smiles back at me.

“I think it would be
awesome, too,” he tells me.

“Great. I just wanted
to make sure. I mean, I don’t know if we will, but I wanted to make
sure it was okay and not weird and now I’m rambling.” I can feel
myself turning red.

“Why don’t you go
write your letter while we pick out our books, Yasmin?” Gary says,
kindly. I take the Sharpie back to my office and do just that.

* * *

Scott

I got a one word text
from Yasmin. “Thanks.” That’s it, just thanks. I thought the
pens would make her happy. And the letter, I thought that was good. I
thought I was on the right track. What the hell am I going to do now?
I must really suck to just get that one word.

Shit! I need to finish
this software but I want to win this woman over. I may have to
postpone this wooing thing until the software is finished and I can
focus solely on her, but I don’t want to wait that long. It could
be two months or more. No, not more. I will get this done in my two
month time frame. I have to. But, I also have to have Yasmin. I drop
my head in my hands as it all overwhelms me.

“Hey son, I rang the
doorbell but I don’t think you could hear me over this music,” my
dad says as he enters my lair. “Are you okay? Is this project too
much for you? We can push it back. Lord knows we don’t need the
money.”

“No Dad. I can do it.
I promised you and Mom. I won’t let you down. Again.” I can’t
look him in the eye as I say this.

“You have never let
us down! How many times can I tell you that what happened to your
sister was not your fault? The only thing I need from you is for you
to forgive yourself. I love you, son.”

I look up to see his
eyes glistening. Mine are wet too. I know he means it. My mom said
it. My brothers said it. And now my dad said it too. I don’t think
that they would all lie to me, so maybe I need to believe it myself.
“I love you too, Dad.”

“Now, let’s see if I can put a
smile on your face,” he says, handing me an envelope.

Scott

That one word makes me
stop breathing for a moment and fills me with hope.

“Enjoy your letter. I’ll let
myself out,” my dad says and I barely register him leaving as I
open the envelope.

Wonderful, sexy Scott,

I LOVE my pens SOOO much! I can’t believe you did this for me. I
feel special and properly wooed. I can’t imagine that you would be
able to top the pens, but I wanted to help you with some of your
questions. So, here are some things that I like:

Milk chocolate and caramel

Cupcakes - chocolate with white frosting, red velvet and lemon are
favorites, but I’ll try almost any kind. Except bacon. Bacon and
pastries just seems too weird.

Blue, purple and white colored flowers. Tulips are my favorite. I
like flowers that have a meaning to them, although roses are good
too!

Blue and purple used to be my favorite colors but green,
especially the almost emerald colored green of a certain someone’s
eyes, is becoming my favorite color now.

Handwritten letters. I never before realized how special getting a
handwritten letter can make a person feel. So, thanks for that.

Oh, and you, I like you.

Yasmin

Holy shit! I didn’t suck. She
liked it and she likes me! Yes, oh fuck, yes! I haven’t felt this
good in, well in forever. Even before the murders, before I knew what
Amber was and what she did, I never felt this happy. And it’s all
because of a sexy, pen loving bookworm. Who would’ve thought? I
grab my phone and text her.

Me: Hey beautiful. Are you busy?

Yasmin: No. It’s slow right now in the store. Did you get my
letter?

Me: I did. I loved it. You’re right about a handwritten
letter making you feel special. I feel special now. I can’t
remember the last time I felt that way.

Yasmin: I ‘m glad that I could be the one to do that for you,
to make you feel that way.

Me: Me too. So, you like my eyes, huh? Do you think about them
often?

I can’t stop myself from teasing
her. And I really want to know the answer.

Yasmin: Oh God, I knew I shouldn’t have told you.

Me: But you did and you didn’t answer my question.

Yasmin: Yes, I think about your eyes. Are you happy now?

Me: What do you do when you think about them? Do you get
yourself off?

Please say yes, I think to myself. I
want to know that she gets off to thoughts of me like I do to
thoughts of her.

Yasmin: I am turning off my phone now. Goodbye.

Fucking A! What is
wrong with me? Asking her if she gets herself off by thinking of my
eyes. Who says that to a girl before even taking her out for a date?
I know I’m not experienced at all with this wooing thing, but I
thought I had some common sense. But, no. I am such a dumbass,
letting my throbbing cock think for me. How am I going to fix this
one? Well, I can start by looking up flowers and what they mean.
Particularly purple, blue and white ones. Dammit. I hope it’s
enough.

Yasmin

I still can’t believe
the text conversation with Scott yesterday. I thought we were on the
same page and then he has to get crude with me. Yes, I do get myself
off when I think of his eyes. And lips. And hot body. But I wouldn’t
tell him that in a text. What if someone saw it on my phone? Or his.
God, I would die of embarrassment if Maggie or Gary saw that. Maybe I
was expecting too much and he’s really just trying to get me into
his bed for a night.

I need to stop thinking
about Scott and start focusing on what I need to do. The website
launches today and I am hoping to see orders start coming in. We
can’t compete with Amazon but I think we have good prices. Sean did
a great job with the design and Sarah and Lisa have been promoting us
like crazy. I should look at that article from Erika, but I can’t
yet. I know if she thinks it’s so great, I will too. Then I’ll be
forced to make the hard choice and put my house on the market.

The house that I grew
up in and my parents loved. It’s a beautiful Craftsman style home
off of Alta Drive. That used to be the place to live here in Vegas.
Before Summerlin and Seven Hills became so popular. Some celebrities
and politicians live in the area still. My parents bought the house
years ago when there was no Barnes and Noble
or
Borders in town and the store was successful. It was paid off 10
years ago. Through the thin times over the last 5 years, they took
out a mortgage on it to pay the bills. My dad said that other than me
and the store, he was the most proud of buying the house for my mom.
The thought of selling it makes me sick, but I can’t bear to take
out a second mortgage and run the risk of not being able to pay. Then
I would lose the house
and
the store. I will have to decide soon. Erika says the software comes
out in 2 months.

I start to reach for
the article when the door opens and Alex comes in for her first day
of volunteering. And she’s not alone. Could this day get any worse?
I am happy to see Alex but not
him
.
I’m not going to forget the text conversation that easily. Bikini
Girl would probably like something like that, but not me. I mean, we
haven’t even been out on a date yet. Yeah, I know it’s my fault
that we haven’t, but that doesn’t mean I should be treated like a
slut.

“Hi Yasmin! I can’t
wait to do story time today! I printed out coloring sheets and
brought cookies and feather boas for the kids to wear while I read
Fancy Nancy!” Alex says with a smile, carrying an overflowing box.

“Are you okay with
that big box? Let me help you!”

“I’m great. I’ve
got it. I’m going to head back to the kids area to set up.” She
is practically skipping down the aisles and it makes me happy to see.
Not happy enough to let Scott off for not helping her though.

I whirl on him. “How
could you not help her?”

“I have my hands
full,” he protests as he whips a large bunch of purple flowers from
behind his back. “They are hyacinths. They mean I am sorry and
please forgive me. I
am
sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with my texts
yesterday. Or cheapen what we have been sharing. Our conversations
mean a lot to me. Even though we haven’t known each other long,
you
mean a lot to me.”

I take the flowers from
him and look up into his eyes where I see the remorse there. He also
looks a little scared. His words touch me and I want to put him at
ease, so I do what we do best and joke with him. “What, no letter?”

He smiles the biggest
smile I have seen from him and it turns his eyes a sparkling green.
“Of course there’s a letter. This wouldn’t be a proper wooing
without a letter.” Reaching into his back pocket, he withdraws a
small envelope, with a small stuffed bear attached to it. “Or a
pen,” he adds while pulling the head off of the bear to reveal a
pen inside.

One of my last walls
falls at my feet and I can’t stop myself. I drop the flowers on the
counter and throw myself at him. He catches me in his arms in a
crushing hug. Our bodies are pressed together in all the right places
and it feels better than anything I can every remember feeling. My
nipples harden while pressed against his firm chest and I can feel
him harden again my stomach. I am glad that I wore my high wedges
today instead of my usual Toms. We are breathing hard and I am not
sure I will be able to resist him, regardless of the fact that we are
in the middle of my bookstore. I don’t
want
to resist him. We start to turn our heads to each other.

“Yasmin, do you have
markers I can use? I left mine at home,” Alex shouts while coming
around the corner. We jump apart like we’ve burned each other and I
try to get my breathing under control.