The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(41)

Her hair hung down into her face and he couldn’t resist pushing it back.

‘Can I kiss you?’

She covered her mouth with her hand. ‘I haven’t brushed.’

‘I don’t care.’

She scrunched up her nose. ‘Really?’

‘Hazel, who did you date before ... this?’

‘A few different guys, why?’

He scooted up to a seat, leaning against the headboard. ‘Were they all right? I mean, did they treat you okay?’

Hazel shrugged. ‘They were fine.’

‘Fine?’

She twirled a curl around her finger, avoiding his gaze before bringing her eyes back to his. She was still without her glasses and he could see the silver ring around her pupils in the morning light. ‘I’ve never really felt ... I don’t know ... like I turned them on. No one has ever called me hot before ... before you.’ Her cheeks turned red as she spoke.

She was sitting now too, and he tugged her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. ‘I don’t know these guys, Haze, but I can only assume they were idiots.’

‘They were all really intelligent, actually.’

He huffed. ‘Then how did they miss what was right in front of them?’

She shrugged against him. ‘Maybe it was me? I didn’t feel very sexy ... I mean I never really have.’

He rolled her over then and she squeaked in surprise. He caged her in with his arms. ‘And how do you feel now?’

She smiled that mischievous smile he was addicted to. ‘Sexy.’

He dipped his head and kissed her neck. ‘Good.’ He sucked on the delicate skin and Hazel arched into him, her legs came up to wrap around his hips and he cursed himself for not running out to buy condoms last night.

But the moment didn’t last long, anyway.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand where he’d tossed it the night before.

‘Should you get that?’ Hazel asked, as he continued his ministrations on her neck. He really should get that. He was a one-man business. It could be someone wanting to book a tour, and with the summer winding down he really needed to take all the work he could get.

But Hazel was so warm and she wasn’t wearing a bra. He could feel her peaked nipples against his chest.

His phone stopped and immediately started up again. He groaned and pushed himself away from Hazel’s welcoming body.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s okay.’

Noah glanced at the screen. It was an incoming video call from his sister’s number. Damn it. He tugged on his shirt before answering. There was only one person this could be, well two, actually, and he never ignored their calls. He glanced at Hazel apologetically once more before accepting the call.

Two little faces filled the screen.

‘Uncle Noah! You didn’t answer!’ Ivy’s voice was full of six-year-old indignation.

‘Hi, Uncle Noah!’ Cece was the more forgiving of the two cousins. His sisters had given birth to a girl each only a week apart and now the two were inseparable, unless they were fighting and then they were sworn enemies. Until they weren’t anymore. Similar to how his sisters had been his whole life. And he had been the baby brother they doted on. Until he ditched them.

He cleared his throat. ‘Well, excuse me, ladies. I was ... busy.’

Ivy frowned. ‘You said you were never too busy for us.’ This kid knew how to go for the jugular.

Cece nudged her cousin. ‘Maybe he was pooping,’ she suggested and both girls collapsed in a fit of giggles. He glanced up to find Hazel with her hand clapped over her mouth stifling her own laughter.

He rolled his eyes. ‘What are you two little menaces calling me for, anyway? This is not our usual chat day.’

His nieces both immediately looked guilty. He’d tried to teach them about poker faces but it had gone terribly. ‘Well, Mommy doesn’t know we have her phone.’

‘Ivy...’

‘It was an emergency!’ she protested and he only now realized the girls were huddled under what looked like a Bluey blanket. The pattern cast a blue tint to the girls’ faces.

‘Is everything alright?’

Cece’s face scrunched up like she was trying not to cry and Ivy put a comforting arm around her. Noah’s heart rate ratched up.

‘Girls, what’s going on?’

‘Mommy’s having another baby!’ Cece wailed. ‘And I don’t want one!’

Ivy nodded. ‘Babies cry all the time and they poop in their pants,’ she said with the deep wisdom that comes with being six.

At the mention of poop, Cece started giggling again and Noah felt like he was losing his mind.

‘Hey, wait a minute!’ Ivy pointed at the screen. ‘That’s not your house! Where are you, Uncle Noah?’

The girls’ inability to stay on topic was giving him whiplash like usual, but he hadn’t been prepared this morning. He hadn’t even had any damn coffee.

He glanced up and found Hazel slipping from the bed like she needed to hide in her own home. Which he hated. But he never introduced the women he ... slept with to his family. And certainly not his little nieces. What would he even say?

‘I’m at a friend’s house,’ he said.

‘Did you have a sleepover?’ Cece asked. ‘Mom says I can’t have one until I’m older. Only with Ivy.’ She rolled her eyes.