The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(18)

Not that she thought Noah actually wanted to marry her by Monday, but the town would talk. They would make assumptions. And she wanted Noah to be clear on what was going on here.

She’d like to be clear on what was going on here.

She expected him to grin and make some kind of joke about the bachelorette party but he’d gone quiet instead.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you. I only ... I just ... people will talk. And I know we’re just doing this as friends. A friendly summer of fun...’ Hazel trailed off when Noah’s gaze met hers and the look in his eye said he wanted to be something other than friends. Her breath stuttered. Oh, damn.

‘No, no. You’re right. I don’t do long-term relationships.’

‘Right.’

‘And it wasn’t the entire bachelorette party.’

‘Oh.’

‘But there’s a first time for everything.’ He winked at her, the smile back on his face as he pulled her through the crowd. A first time for everything? Wait ... for the entire bachelorette party or the long-term relationship thing?

She was about to ask more questions she shouldn’t, but he was already at the next game booth, handing tickets to the perky high-school attendant and assuring Hazel that squirting targets with a water gun was more his game. And it didn’t matter anyway because she hadn’t intended on anything serious happening between her and Noah this summer. In fact, serious was the opposite of what she intended.

A buzzer sounded and the players, seated on small stools, started shooting their targets. The more you hit it, the faster your little racehorse ran. Noah was competing against two eight-year-olds and the mailman, Mr. Prescott.

Lights flashed and tinny music blared from the speakers. Noah was all focus, though. Hazel couldn’t help but smile as he crouched over the fake gun, a furrow of concentration in his brow. And she also couldn’t help the cheer that escaped her when he won.

‘For you.’ He proudly presented her with a giant penguin. It was easily three feet tall and stuffed with material she could only assume was carcinogenic. The entire thing felt highly flammable and utterly toxic but she held it to her chest like a kid on Christmas.

‘I love him.’

Noah laughed, his eyes crinkling in the corners. ‘Just imagine what the rumor mill will crank out now.’

‘Noah and Hazel elope in Antarctica. Bring home new pet.’

‘Hazel gives birth to three-foot-tall tuxedoed baby.’

Giggles fizzed from her as they walked away from the booth, penguin tucked beneath her arm. The cotton candy was long gone.

She grinned up at him. Maybe she liked the carnival after all.

‘Noah’s much more handsome brother comes to town and sweeps Hazel off her feet.’

He feigned offense at that one. ‘Hey. More handsome? Now that just hurts, Haze.’

‘Do you even have a brother?’

‘Nope. Two sisters. Both older than me. Both smarter and more responsible.’

‘But definitely not handsomer.’

He laughed again, taking her free hand in his. She let him. Let the Dream Harbor rumor mill say what it would. She wasn’t afraid of them.

‘Definitely not. But don’t tell them I said so.’

‘Never.’ They’d wandered toward the food trucks. ‘Should we get something to eat? Like some real food?’

‘Sure.’

After much deliberation they settled on chicken gyros and an absurdly large fresh squeezed lemonade to share. They sat at a sticky picnic table across from each other while small children ran screeching by. The night was hot and humid and Hazel’s thighs stuck to the metal bench, but somehow she didn’t seem to mind as much as she usually did.

‘I’d like to meet them,’ she said.

‘Meet who? The bachelorette party I allegedly debauched? Lovely girls.’

She smacked his arm. ‘No! Your sisters.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, of course.’

‘Why?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. You’re kind of a mystery around here.’

‘A mystery? I like that.’ He waggled his eyebrows, taking another bite of his gyro.

‘I’m serious. You just kinda showed up here one day and I feel like I don’t know much about you.’

‘Believe it or not, Haze, there are a lot of towns out there that people come and go from without anyone noticing.’

‘Well, that’s sad.’

He shrugged but was no longer meeting her eye. His playfulness was gone. Hazel had managed to suck the fun out of the freaking carnival.

‘I’m sure plenty of people noticed when you moved here.’

‘Oh, they definitely noticed when I bailed on the family business.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’m not so much a mystery as a screw-up. Sorry to disappoint.’

‘You don’t disappoint me at all.’

He met her gaze again, a look of quiet surprise on his face. He quickly covered it up with a charming grin. ‘I think we need to get back on track.’

‘We do?’

‘Yep. I promised you a fun night. HANSOF, remember? We can’t be sitting around talking about my family drama on a HANSOF night.’

‘Sounds like a German cousin or something.’