Page 77 of Tracing Holland

“What did I just say?”

I grunt as she yanks me toward the entrance.

The store is nearly empty, which is bad enough, but even worse is the fact that we can tell the employees immediately recognize us.I guess we shouldn’t be surprised given the fact that our faces are probably plastered all over the wall of screens to the left all day, every day.

“Hi, can you help us for a moment?”Holland asks the first slack-jawed, twenty-something we find in a uniform.

“Uh, yeah.Hi…what…”

“I’m Holland, this is Luke, and we’re interested in your acoustic guitars.Can you let us into the display room?”

He manages a nod and fumbles with his keys.“Um, yeah, this way.Do you need help?I mean, probably not.But if you have questions…I’m Tyler.I’ll be…” He tucks his hair behind his ears.“Over there.”He points to the counter, and Holland gives him a gracious smile.

“Thanks, Tyler.We’ll let you know if we need anything.”

He nods, but still hasn’t moved.

I’m sure Holland notices, and it’s everything I can do not to laugh.“Oh, hey, Tyler?”Her smile turns from sweet to downright stunning, and I suppress my grin.This kid doesn’t have a prayer.

“Any chance you could give us the room for an hour or so?Tell people it’s a private demo?”

There is nothing on this planet that would make the guy deny her request, that much is obvious, and this time I have to escape to the display room to hide my amusement.Not surprisingly, Tyler is pretty sure that shouldn’t be a problem, and Holland is very grateful.She follows me a few seconds later and we exchange a subtle grin.We know we’re on camera and don’t want to embarrass poor Tyler who’s been nothing but accommodating.

“What’ll it be, rockstar?”Holland asks, facing the giant wall of acoustic guitar models.“Ooo, check out this Taylor.”

“We’re buying cheap guitars now?You dragging those on the flight back?”

She rolls her eyes.“Oh, so now suddenly you’re a diva?Darling, this baby has an eight-thousand-dollar price tag.”

I grunt and have no choice but to take the instrument when she shoves it at me.Even my worst pout wouldn’t risk an eight-thousand-dollar guitar.I have to admit it feels really nice in my hands.

“The action is great,” I mumble, testing out a few chords.

“It’s got a sweet finish.”

“Yeah, I can see that.Needs new strings, though.We should go find Tyler.”

We don’t have to go far since he is hovering right outside the display room, pretending to unload the same three guitar tuners.We catch his eye and wave him in.

“Hi, need something?”he asks.

“Yeah, can you grab us a new pack of medium Elixers?Purple pack,” I say.

He seems embarrassed.“Oh, shit, sorry.Those need to be changed?”

“Yeah, man, no big deal.You must have some serious customers testing this out in here.”

He smirks.“Yeah, everyone picks that one up, but no one actually buys it.I wish.”

I study him for a second.“Why?You get commission or something?”

He seems to blush a bit.“No, that would be awesome, though.Here, I’ll change those for you,” he adds, reaching for the guitar.

“Thanks, man,” I say, handing it to him.

I feel Holland’s gaze and glance back at her when Tyler disappears.

“What?”I ask defensively.