The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(36)

‘I thought you didn’t like nature.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t like bugs and heat and dirt.’

Noah gestured toward the potted plants. ‘They have dirt.’

‘Right, but I don’t have to sit in it.’

Noah laughed, the sound low and rich in her small home.

‘Uh ... So, can I get you a drink?’

‘Sure. What do you have?’

What didn’t she have? For as long as she could remember Hazel equated the number of available beverages with the coolness level of the house. If there was an entirely separate drink fridge in some basement or garage area, forget it, that house was by far the coolest. When she moved to Dream Harbor all her dads ever seemed to keep stocked was milk or OJ. These are not cool things to offer to your friends.

She rattled off the several types of beer she kept stocked for Logan, the wine she liked best, plus Annie’s favorites, various teas, coffees, several flavors of White Claw and sparkling water. Noah stared at her like she’d grown an extra head.

‘Are you opening your own bar, Haze?’

Her cheeks heated but something about the way Noah teased her never made embarrassment flair in her belly.

‘I like people to have options.’

‘I’ll take one of those local beers Logan likes.’

Hazel nodded and popped down the few steps to her basement to grab the beer. When she came back up, Noah was in her kitchen admiring the shells she’d put on the little window sill above the sink.

‘You kept the treasure,’ he said, a secret smile playing around his lips.

‘Was I supposed to bury it?’

Another laugh burst out of him and he turned to face her with sparkling eyes. ‘Nah, that’s when all the trouble starts.’ He leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest and Hazel’s gaze flicked to the images inked into his skin.

‘Why the mermaid?’ she asked.

He flexed his arm and the woman seemed to undulate. ‘Seemed right for a fisherman, I guess. Got it the same day I left home with Ginger.’

‘So, do they all mean something to you?’

He shrugged. ‘Some more than others. They’re kinda like souvenirs, I guess. Memories from different times in my life.’

‘You’re only twenty-five.’ Hazel winced at the thought, the reminder of just how ill-advised her attraction to him was. ‘You’re going to run out of room.’

‘I’ve got a lot of body parts left.’ He said with a wink, and heat rose to Hazel’s cheeks. She really needed to spend more time outside. Maybe with a little tan on her skin she wouldn’t go bright red at every other word Noah said.

But now all she could think about while crammed into her tiny kitchen with him were his other body parts. She should steer the conversation back to safer ground.

‘Why do you always look at me like that?’ she asked, steering the ship right into the rocks of awkward conversation instead.

‘Like what?’ He grinned. ‘Like I want to undo every one of the buttons on those shirts you love to wear?’

Hazel swallowed hard. ‘That’s what that look means?’ Her voice came out embarrassingly squeaky.

He nodded.

‘Oh.’ More breathy sigh than actual word. Hazel thought she might expire on the spot when Noah’s gaze flicked down to said buttons.

By the time his eyes met hers again, she had apparently lost her mind because the next words that came out of her mouth were not something she would have ever said had she still had her wits about her.

‘Maybe we should have sex.’

Noah choked on his beer. ‘What?’

‘Oh, God, oh, no. Sorry. I just thought ... maybe I misread the situation ... but I thought maybe you might want to ... Shit. I ruined it.’

He pushed off the counter and stalked toward her. The kitchen was small. Really only big enough for one person to cook in at a time which was normally fine. But now, with Noah prowling toward her across the worn linoleum and her back suddenly against another set of cabinets, it was frighteningly small.

He took her chin between his fingers and tilted her face up to his. ‘Stop saying that.’

‘Saying what?’

‘That you’re ruining things. You don’t ruin anything, Hazel.’

Her eyes widened at his words but she couldn’t respond before his mouth curved into a wicked smile.

‘And hell, yeah, I want to have sex with you.’

‘You do?’

He sighed like she was frustrating him and then planted a kiss on her forehead before releasing her chin. ‘I told you before. You. Are. Hot. Of course I want to have sex with you.’

‘Oh. Okay. Great... I mean right ... so...’

‘What’s the matter? You sound like you’re malfunctioning.’

‘I think I am.’ She shook her head, hardly believing the turn this night took. She just needed some dinner, she just wanted to see him. She just...

‘Show me how you do it.’

Noah’s eyes widened. ‘Show you how to ... have sex?’

Oh, God she was screwing this up so many different ways she’d completely lost count. This was why she only had sex within the safe boundaries of a long-term relationship. There was nothing to explain when you wanted to have sex with your boyfriend. You simply both worked it into your schedules. Right? Right?! Oh God, what was wrong with her?