The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(56)

Noah leaned back into his pillows again. Rachel’s words swam around in his head. What story was he telling himself? That his family didn’t want him around because he hadn’t met their expectations?

No, the story he was telling was that he didn’t want to go home until he proved to himself and everyone else that his choice was the right one, that leaving school and home and the family business was the right thing to do.

He wanted to be successful when he walked in that door.

But maybe that was all bullshit, too. Maybe he just needed to go home to the family that loved him. Maybe they loved him even if all he ever had was an old boat and some crazy ideas. Maybe Hazel could too...

And now his family needed him. He couldn’t shake the look of stress and fear on his sister’s face when she talked about the pregnancy. He’d never once seen her look like that, not even when he’d managed to get himself stuck too high in the apple tree in their yard while she was babysitting, or when that freak, coastal blizzard knocked out all the power to their freezers jeopardizing hundreds of pounds of frozen seafood, or when Kristen announced that Ivy’s father wouldn’t be sticking around.

Rachel didn’t get scared. Except now she was. And if Noah could do anything to fix that, he sure as hell had to try. He just didn’t know what any of it would mean for him and Hazel.

It was a lot to take in. A lot to process all at once.

So he made the healthy choice and grabbed his book, comforted in the fact that at least he didn’t have dormant magic powers or the tendency to turn into a wolf.

He’d read just one more chapter and then deal with his own shit...





Chapter Twenty-Three





It was early when Hazel pulled her little Prius into the marina parking lot. The sun was up but the sky was still streaked with cotton-candy pink. It was a Tuesday in September and the docks were relatively empty. Anyone that had been here for the summer was gone for the season and the locals with boats were either at work or still in bed. So she was alone as she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and made her way down to the water.

The day was shaping up to be a sunny one but the air was chilly, the breeze off the water making Hazel glad she’d worn a sweatshirt. Well, technically it was Noah’s sweatshirt. She didn’t know if that was weird but it just so happened to be her new favorite one. Just the right amount of big-ness paired with the perfect coziness. And the exact right amount of Noah’s summery scent. Not that she would be mentioning that last part.

A boat trip was the pinnacle of outdoor adventure. At least to Hazel who sure as hell wasn’t about to climb a mountain anytime soon. But she was feeling proud of herself for agreeing to do this.

It was all about stepping out of her comfort zone. And nothing to do with the sexy fisherman waving to her from the dock.

Ha! Yeah, right. One and a half weeks from her thirtieth birthday and she probably shouldn’t be lying to herself anymore. She wanted to be with Noah. Like for real. Like she wanted Noah past her birthday, past the end of HANSOF. She just wanted him.

But how he felt about the whole thing was still ... fuzzy.

Which was why after this little adventure she had every intention of talking to him like the adult she was and just laying it all out there. Probably. Maybe. She still hadn’t worked out all the kinks in that plan. Like what if he didn’t want that, at all. What if he wanted to stick to their original agreement and Hazel was left embarrassed and exposed? What if Noah was perfectly content to walk away from all of this in a week and Hazel’s summer of adventure ended with a broken heart?

It wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind when she’d started this whole thing.

‘Hey! You made it.’ Noah greeted her with his signature grin.

Hazel pushed down her growing worries and forced a smile. ‘What, you thought I wouldn’t show up?’

His smile grew. ‘Nope. I’m just happy to see you.’

Hazel’s heart actually fluttered, something she would have sworn was physically impossible just a few weeks ago. ‘I’m happy to see you, too.’

She fidgeted under his gaze. Was a sweatshirt and jeans not appropriate boat wear? She didn’t own any of those boat shoes they wear in the LL Bean catalogs her mother still had stacked in her mail tray, so she’d just gone with her white canvas sneakers.

‘You’re wearing my sweatshirt.’

Oh, right. That.

‘It’s comfortable.’

‘Mmm. I remember.’

‘Do you want it back?’ She’d already started undoing the zipper when Noah’s hands came to stop hers.

‘No, I like seeing you in it.’

‘You do?’

‘Of course. It satisfies some deep masculine urge to mark you as mine.’ His smile was full of teasing mischief. He was kidding but a little part of her, a part she’d never confess to anyone, wanted it to be true. She wanted to be his. And in the spirit of equality, she wanted him to be hers.

She shoved all that aside and instead feigned outrage. ‘Ugh, in that case...’ Her fingers went back to the zipper.

Noah laughed, the sound startling the nearby seagulls.

‘I’m just kidding. You look cute in it.’

‘Oh. Well.’ Hazel shrugged even as her stomach swooped at Noah’s words.