He topped off their champagne. "I knew you'd follow me. You sell books, I get a few more tourists into the hotel, and we both add to our potential customer base. Vacations," he continued, selecting a delicate crab puff. "Hotels, beach reading. Then there's business travel. Same deal. I'm working on pulling in more conventions. I get them in and part of the welcome package is a discount coupon for Cafe Book, which gets them into your place across the street. "
"Which, if they fill out the prize form, gets them back into your place on a weekend vacation. "
"Bull's-eye. "
She considered as fresh field-greens salads were served. "The cost to each of us is negligible. Some paperwork. It's simple enough. In fact, much too simple to warrant a business dinner to discuss it. "
"There's more. I've noticed you don't, as a rule, do author events. "
"One or two a year, local interest again. " She shrugged her shoulders. "Sisters and Cafe Book are well off the beaten path for book tours and standard book signings. Publishers don't send authors to remote islands off the New England coast, and most authors aren't going to pay to come here and work. "
"We can change that. "
He had her interest now. She accepted the bread he'd buttered for her, unaware that he'd been nudging food on her since she'd sat down. "Can we?"
"I made a number of contacts in New York. I've still got some buttons to push, but I'm working on convincing a few key people that sending a touring author to Three Sisters would be well worth the time and money. Particularly since the Magick Inn will offer a generous corporate rate and first-class accommodations. Then there's the convenience of having a classy independent bookstore right across the street. What you have to do is put together a proposal detailing just how Cafe Book would host an author, how you'd pull in the warm bodies and have books moving out the door. We pull it off once, just once, and others will be hopping on the ferry. "
She felt the quick twist of excitement at the idea, but weighed it from all angles. "Filling a room a few times a year at a corporate rate will hardly made a difference to you. "
"Maybe I'm just trying to help my neighbor. So to speak. "
"Then you should know your neighbor isn't gullible or naive. "
"No, she's just the most beautiful woman I've ever known. "
"Thank you. Now. What's the point in these ideas for the hotel?"
"Okay, so much for charm. " He leaned toward her. "There are a lot of publishers with a lot of authors with a lot of books to hype. That's one. Two, publishers have sales conferences. If I snag the interest of one publisher because of a successful author event, it's going to add to the weight I'm putting on to cop a major conference. I get that, I'm going to get in a lot of repeat business. " He lifted his water glass. "So will you. If you can handle an author event. "
"I know how to host a signing. " She ate without thinking because her mind was already on the details. "If you can push those buttons for, say, July or August, even into September the first time around, I'll get plenty of warm bodies. Give me a novel, a mystery, a romance, a thriller, and we'll sell a hundred minimum on the event day, and half that many during the follow-up week. "
"Write the proposal. "
"You'll have it tomorrow, by the close of the workday. "
"Good. " He ate some salad. "How would you like John Grisham?"
Enjoying herself, enjoying him, she picked up her glass again. "Don't toy with me, smart guy. He doesn't tour, his books come out in February, not the summer. And even you aren't that good. "
"Okay, just testing. How about Caroline Trump?"
Mia's lips pursed. "She's very good. I've read her first three books. Solid romantic thrillers. Her publisher's been building her well, and they're moving her into hardcover this summer. A July release,"
she considered, studying Sam's face. "Can you get me Caroline Trump?"
"Get me the proposal. "
She sat back again. "I misjudged you. I imagined you used business as an excuse to get me in here. I figured you'd have some little scheme to spring off a seduction attempt, but nothing really viable. "
"If I hadn't had something viable, I'd have settled for a scheme to get you here. " He brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. "Even if it only meant I could look at you for an hour. "
"And I thought," she continued, "that sometime during the conversation you'd remind me that you had a number of rooms upstairs, and why didn't we make use of one. "
"I thought about it. " He remembered what she'd said to him as they'd sat in her car outside of the yellow cottage. "But it wouldn't make you happy. "
Her breath caught for an instant. "Oh, I wish I knew if that was sincere, or just fucking clever. "
"Mia - "
"No. I don't know what's between us. I can't see it, and I've tried to. Why is it that, even knowing better, we can fool ourselves into believing we'd be all right if we just knew what happens next?"
"I don't know. I can't see it either. " When she looked at him, he nearly sighed. "I was never as good as you at clearing away the now to see the what-ifs, but I had to try. "
She looked to the portrait of the sisters. "The only thing set in stone is yesterday. I can promise you I have no intention of letting what they began be destroyed. This is my home. Everything that matters to me is on this island. I'm more than I was when you left, less than I will be when I'm done. That, I do know. "
"Do you think being with me diminishes that?"