The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(22)

‘Okay.’

His grin grew. ‘Okay, great. Any more clues?’

‘I doubt it, but I haven’t checked yet.’

‘What are you waiting for?’ He was already up and out the office door before she could respond. He was in front of the romance shelves when she caught up to him.

‘Look! A crooked one.’

‘Hmm.’ Hazel pulled it from the shelf and found the dog-eared page.

Noah’s little intake of breath caught her attention. She raised a brow in question.

‘This is exciting.’

She laughed and ran her finger down the page.

‘She dug her toes into the cool sand and dipped her head back, letting the warm sun caress her face.’ Noah read the highlighted line out loud in that low rumble of a voice and Hazel repressed a shiver.

‘Looks like we’re going to the beach,’ he said, still close enough that his breath stirred the curls around her face.

Hazel sighed.

‘Please don’t tell me you don’t like the beach.’ A pained expression crossed his face as if Hazel had personally insulted his mother.

‘I just always get sunburned, and sand gets everywhere, and last time a seagull pooped on my sandwich.’

Noah was fighting a laugh. She could tell. ‘I promise no wildlife will poop on your lunch this time.’

‘I just don’t think those are promises you can make.’

‘Fisherman’s honor.’

She tried to frown, she tried to be grumpy about sand and errant bird poop and the inevitable sunburn, but it was impossible. Not with Noah nearly glowing with excitement.

‘Okay, fine.’

‘HANSOF!’ He took the book from her hands. Seduction Cove was scrawled across the cover. ‘Also I’m taking this one.’

Hazel scoffed. ‘No, you’re not.’

‘I’ll pay for it.’

‘You don’t want to read that.’

‘Of course I do.’ He flashed her a smile as he wandered toward the register. ‘Looks educational.’

Hazel bit down on her laugh. ‘You’re ridiculous.’

‘It’s what you hired me for, isn’t it?’

His smile was still firmly in place but a shadow of doubt had crossed his features.

‘That’s not why at all. And I didn’t hire you.’

‘Right. Just kidding.’

Hazel came around to the other side of the counter and took the book from his hands. ‘I want to do this with you because I like you.’

‘Oh.’

‘And you’re good at it.’

A new mix of emotions flitted across his face but Hazel couldn’t catch them before he was smiling again.

She wanted to say more. That he was a breath of fresh air in her musty life, that he was slowly reminding her how to let go, that he was waking her up like the sun after a long winter. But none of that seemed casual.

And this thing between them was very casual.

A few months of excitement and flirting and nothing more.

Regardless of how he looked at her.





Chapter Ten





Noah had insisted she leave all their beach-trip planning to him. So she found herself wandering down to the shore with a straw bag tucked under her arm and no real concept of what the day would hold. The weather had turned again and despite the bright August sun, the day was cool and breezy. Hazel wore her favorite hoodie over her tank top and had opted for hot tea in her mug over iced tea.

It was a Tuesday morning, her day off, and Noah was free too, so they’d agreed to follow the book clue today. He’d told her to meet him at the end of one of Dream Harbor’s many little side streets that ended up at the water’s edge. But this wasn’t the public beach with its sandy shoreline and snack stand. Hazel was standing next to the rocky edge before the sidewalk turned into coarse sand.

She hadn’t ever been to this part of the shoreline, although she knew plenty of kids in high school who had partied here on the weekends. Not surprisingly, she’d never joined them. But she could see why this was the big meet-up spot; once you got over the large rocks, the beach was mostly obscured from the street. It was quiet and secluded. On a Tuesday morning there were no partying teenagers in sight.

‘Hey, there you are.’ Noah’s head popped up over the rocks, the usual smile on his face.

‘Hi.’

‘Come this way, there’s more of a path.’ He led her to where there may have once been a path but was now more like crumbled concrete. She took his hand as he led her over the rough terrain.

‘You thought this was the spot to convince me to like the beach?’

He grinned at her. ‘Yep.’ He hadn’t let go of her hand and she liked the feeling of her fingers intertwined with his, so she didn’t pull it away. ‘It’s like our own private beach down here.’

Hazel frowned, glancing down the narrow strip of sand. About a hundred yards down a mother was building a sandcastle with her toddler. Every time she tipped the bucket over and dumped out a castle, the boy stomped it and giggled manically.

‘Well, mostly private.’ He led her to where he’d spread out a blanket. A cooler sat next to it and the flip flops he’d already discarded. ‘This is for you.’ He grabbed the large straw hat that sat on the blanket and placed it on her head with a flourish.