The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(32)

Jeanie’s smile bloomed at Hazel’s reminder. ‘I know.’

‘And he doesn’t care that you leave your dirty socks around the house.’

‘Hey! He told you that?’

Hazel laughed. ‘He said it like it was cute!’

Jeanie made a face and went to grab her notebook and romance novel from the reading nook. ‘I have to get back to the café and then I have to tell Logan to stop literally airing our dirty laundry.’

‘Your secret is safe with me.’ Hazel assured her with a smile.

Jeanie pretended to scowl at her but the woman was too cheerful to pull it off. ‘Oh, so what about the defaced books? Are they just scribbled in or what?’

‘Oh ... uh...’ Hazel pushed her glasses up her nose. A need to protect her clues flared up inside her. It didn’t make sense but she wasn’t ready to share them, to share this whole bizarre summer. She wasn’t ready for everyone to think she was so pathetic that she had latched on to some randomly highlighted lines and based the last two months of her twenties on them. ‘Yeah, just seems to be some random marks. Probably a kid or something.’

‘Hmm. Strange.’

‘I’ll keep a better eye on things. I’m sure it won’t happen again.’ Even as she said it she hoped her words wouldn’t come true. If the clues stopped, what excuse would she have to keep hanging out with Noah?

His face above her as she came apart yesterday, the blue sky, bright behind his copper hair, flashed through her mind. Right. That might be a good enough reason. For the next few weeks anyway.

‘Okay, let me know if you need anything!’

‘Thanks, Jeanie.’

‘See you later!’

Hazel watched Jeanie walk past the large front windows of the shop before turning back to her work. She had orders to put in for next month and all the chatter about Bennett coming for Christmas reminded her she needed to get the holiday books in ASAP. It might still feel like summer outside but cozy season was rapidly approaching.

She had been very cozy yesterday, huddled under Noah’s blanket into the late afternoon. She’d returned home a little sunburned, very wind-blown, and more than a little bit ... happy.

For better or worse, Noah and the clues were making her happy.

And as a birthday gift to herself she refused to think about all the ways it could go horribly wrong.





Chapter Thirteen





Noah glanced at his phone for the twelfth time in the last half hour. Nothing. No word from Hazel, at all. He grimaced and dropped the phone back in his pocket.

Mac was watching him when he looked up. ‘Waiting for a call?’ he asked, a dark eyebrow raised.

‘Uh ... no ... not really.’ Noah went back to wiping down the bar for something to do with his hands that didn’t involve reaching for his phone again. He’d come in for a shift at the bar since he didn’t have a tour today, but the bar was disappointingly empty. Which made sense for a Wednesday evening, but Noah had really been hoping for a distraction.

Mac didn’t push further but Noah could feel the man’s eyes on him before he went back into the kitchen. His head cook had come down with flu and Mac was on the grill tonight. The man owned the bar but also seemed to do most of the jobs within it as well. Noah never saw him not working.

Amber came up to the bar with her tray and an order for a round of beers for the rowdy table in the corner.

‘That’s your tour for tomorrow,’ she said, laying her tray down and pushing the honey-colored curls from her shoulder.

Noah grimaced. ‘They look like fun.’

‘Oh, definitely. Should get a lot of good fishing done.’

Noah glanced over at the table where the guys were loudly arguing over the difference between a first mate and a skipper.

Amber laughed, her green eyes dancing. She was dressed in her usual waitressing uniform of a tight tank top and shorts and Noah couldn’t help but appreciate the long swaths of skin exposed to him. He happened to know she was just as gorgeous naked, but he hadn’t hooked up with Amber since last summer, and had no intention to now, despite the knowing smile she was giving him.

‘Still not dating locals?’ she asked, leaning on the bar as he poured the drinks.

He shrugged, trying to play it cool even as all his thoughts turned toward Hazel. ‘Rules are rules.’

Amber laughed. ‘Let me know when you feel like breaking them again.’ She winked at him before walking away and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted. Not because Amber was sexy, which was objectively true, but because things with Amber were simple. Sex and nothing else. They’d made it clear from day one. And when things between them petered off no one was hurt.

And now here he was checking for messages from Hazel every two minutes like a teenager. His feelings were already hurt. Why hadn’t she texted? Was he supposed to text? He didn’t want to come on too strong. Maybe he was supposed to wait until the next clue? He didn’t know the rules to this game anymore.

But all he could think about was Hazel. The taste of her and her little sighs and moans and the way she’d held onto him when she came and the feel of her head resting on his shoulder . . .

He wanted more of that, of her.

He tried to lose himself in the repetitive tasks of the night and luckily as the evening wore on more folks came in for dinner, giving him more to do, more to think about that wasn’t a certain bookseller.