The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(19)

Noah laughed, the playfulness back in his eyes.

‘And HANSOF says no more family talk. It’s time for the Ferris wheel.’

Hazel hugged her penguin tighter. ‘I think I’ve had plenty of fun for one night. I should probably get to bed.’

‘Haze, it’s nine o’clock.’

‘I’m tired.’

‘Haze, nine o’clock is an old-lady bedtime.’

‘I’m an old lady.’

‘No, you are young and vibrant and fun. And sexy.’ Another wink. How did he make winking not creepy?

‘Sexy?’

‘Terribly.’

She rolled her eyes, but heat had crept into her cheeks anyway. Noah, debaucher of entire bachelorette parties, thought she was sexy. It made her head spin.

‘Okay, fine. We can do the Ferris wheel, but if I vomit on you, that’s your fault.’

‘Understood.’ He held out a hand and helped her up from her sticky bench. ‘Kinda wishing we did the rides before eating, though.’

She laughed. ‘No turning back now.’

He held her gaze another second, something heavier there now, before pulling her toward the rides. No turning back now.

The Ferris wheel couldn’t do anything to her stomach that Noah’s stare wasn’t already doing.





‘Just squeeze my hand ... oww ... a little less squeezing.’

‘Sorry.’ Hazel eased her grip but did not open her eyes. She was crammed into a Ferris wheel seat with Noah and her penguin, slowly rising up over the carnival, but she wasn’t thinking about that. Or about the fact that this Ferris wheel had literally been assembled that morning, and by whom?! And what if they’d missed a screw or something? She wasn’t thinking about any of that.

She was focused instead on Noah’s fingers wrapped around hers, and his warm body against her side, and his deep voice in her ear. And frankly, all of that was making her dizzy in an entirely different way.

‘You should really open your eyes. It’s beautiful up here.’

‘Why are we stopping?’ Hazel’s heart lurched as the wheel stopped.

‘They’re letting more people on.’

‘I hate that.’

‘That other people get to ride, too?’

She had to open her eyes to smack his shoulder and found him grinning at her. ‘No. I got stuck at the top once.’

‘For how long?’

‘Like an hour. But it was storming.’

‘Shit, Hazel. You didn’t tell me you had like actual trauma around the thing.’ He loosened his fingers from hers and wrapped his arm around her instead. She didn’t hate it.

‘I’m fine. I think.’ She peered over the front of the carriage and found the carnival lit up below her. Music and laughter drifted on the evening breeze, muting the frenetic energy of the fair and giving an ephemeral quality to the night. Beyond the carnival, the twinkling lights of Dream Harbor made the town feel both cozy and distant, like another world she had the opportunity to see just for a moment. She could even spot the marina from here and the lights on the docks. The beauty was nearly enough to make her forget to be afraid.

‘Any urge to puke?’

‘Uh ... no. Not at the moment.’ The wheel started turning and they continued their descent. Hazel’s stomach dipped and she squeezed her eyes shut again, burrowing her face into Noah’s shoulder.

Salt air and sunshine and soap. She breathed deep. Noah’s arm stayed firm around her shoulders as they reached the ground and swooped back up for another rotation. Hazel looked this time.

‘This might be fun.’

‘You sound surprised.’

‘I am.’

He laughed, the feel of it ghosting over her cheeks. Their heads were close together, the seat was small and the penguin was big. They didn’t have much choice.

‘You know what might be even more fun?’ he asked.

‘What?’

‘If we made out up here.’

His smile said he was teasing but his eyes said he was dead serious. He was closer now, his nose brushing against her cheek, his forehead leaning against hers. And everything about this felt reckless.

Hazel leaned in.

Her lips brushed against his. Noah made a sound somewhere between a groan and a sigh so Hazel deepened the kiss, her tongue swept into his mouth and he was cotton candy and lemonade and summer and Hazel liked it.

She pulled away as the wheel turned to bring them back down and caught Noah’s dazed expression in the multi-colored lights of the rides.

‘Damn, Hazel Kelly,’ he whispered.

And she smiled.





Chapter Nine





Noah had still not recovered physically or mentally from kissing Hazel the night before, and he needed an iced coffee before his first tour of the day.

The cool air of The Pumpkin Spice Café hit him as he walked in. The place was bustling as usual, with the morning rush getting their caffeine fix for the day.

He got in line, stooping to give Casper a scratch between his ears when the little ghost cat came over to greet him. The cat purred happily before sauntering off to curl up on the lap of a college student sitting in a cozy chair by the window.

‘Noah!’ Kaori appeared behind him in line, her briefcase slung over one shoulder. ‘What did you get up to last night?’ she asked, all smiles. But Noah had lived here long enough not to be fooled. Kaori was fishing.