The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(24)

“I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here with you,” she said. “My mom and I love Smith’s Sweets. We have one of your products for almost every occasion. It’s really special to us.”

Jeremiah smiled. This was exactly what Pop would have wanted, the joy of knowing that another family was enjoying what he and Grandma Minnie had worked so hard to build.

“If you agree to let me hire you, I’ll throw in Smith’s Sweets snacks for life,” he said.

Noelle’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Well, maybe not for life,” he said, thinking that Percy would probably have an aneurysm if he discovered that Jeremiah had made such a promise. “But I can definitely give you several boxes of your favorite flavors.”

Their food arrived on steaming-hot plates. Noelle lifted her fork and moved the rice around before taking a bite. Jeremiah dug into his food too and snuck glances at Noelle. There was something graceful about her movements. He’d noticed that earlier at the bookstore.

“What would our sleeping arrangements be?” she asked.

“My family will expect us to sleep in the same room, but you can have the bed. My room there has a couch by the bay window, so that’s where I’ll sleep.”

“And in terms of PDA,” she said. “I’m going to assume you aren’t expecting me to tongue-kiss you in front of them as soon as we walk through the door.”

He almost choked on his pad see ew. He took a sip of his tea to wash down the lodged food.

“No,” he said, coughing. “I think some light PDA would be helpful, though, to make it look convincing. Hugging. Holding hands. That kind of thing. A kiss on the cheek if you aren’t comfortable with the mouth. And I completely understand if you aren’t.”

Her eyes lowered to his mouth, and his skin immediately prickled with heat as he stared at her mouth too. When she cleared her throat, he quickly lifted his gaze. A pinkish hue flushed beneath her brown skin. He started to smile but checked himself. He shouldn’t feel satisfied that he’d made her blush. They were having a business meeting.

“Okay, but what happens after the weekend ends?” Noelle asked. “What if your family expects to see me again? Will you tell them that we broke up?”

“Yeah, that’s the tricky part,” he said. “In order for this to work, I think it’s probably best if they don’t like you too much.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Something else you should know about my family is that when they like someone, they don’t let them go. My best friend, Danny, is basically an honorary Smith. Percy brought Robin to Heart Beach once when they were in college and weren’t even official yet, but my mom got Robin’s number somehow and started texting her like they were new best friends. You and Amara already have a love of reading in common, and I know she’ll want to talk to you about that. Percy will probably leave you be, but Robin will definitely want to get to know you. I’m not saying that you should be disrespectful or rude. Just don’t let them endear themselves to you, you know? Don’t be too friendly.”

“But I’m a friendly person,” Noelle said, looking troubled. “How can I not want to be friendly with the people who run the company that makes my favorite snacks? I want your family to love me.”

He laughed. “I’m thinking maybe Saturday night, we can have a dramatic breakup in front of my family. I’ll be heartbroken for the rest of summer. They’ll leave me in peace, and we’ll all move on.”

Noelle chewed her food, considering this. “Wait. Don’t you want to know more about me first?”

“I would, yes.” He set down his fork and gave her his full attention.

“Well, I’m twenty-seven—wait, how old are you?”

“Twenty-nine.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod. “I live in Brickton with my best friend, Tati. She was the one standing at the hair salon window earlier. I grew up in Brickton and lived there for most of my life, except for the years when I was at UMD. I had to drop out before my senior year, but, um, I’m going back to college soon, hopefully. I told you that already, though…”

He wanted to ask why she’d dropped out, but her expression had turned guarded when she’d mentioned it. He didn’t want to push her to talk about anything that made her uncomfortable.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Brickton,” he said instead.

“It’s a small town.” She eyed him, and the corner of her mouth lifted in a smile. “Don’t you want to run a background check on me or something?”

“Do I need to do that?”

“I mean.” She shrugged and held out her hands, palms up. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

“Then, no. I trust you enough.”

“Just like that?” she asked, blinking.

“I’ve spent time around schemers and grifters. I can sniff them out pretty easily. I can tell that you’re not one.” Throughout his life, he’d met his fair share of people who befriended him only because they wanted something they thought he could provide, be it money or connections or whatever else. Those people lacked the ability to come across as truly genuine. Noelle didn’t give those vibes.

“Okay,” she said. She bit her lip again. “Um, I’m sure you’ve probably realized that we come from different socioeconomic groups. When I do bridesmaid gigs, the dresses are provided for me, and if there are other events that I need to attend, I usually borrow clothes from my best friend. But this situation is different. I don’t really own cute summer clothes to wear next weekend around your family.” She gestured to her Hidden Gems Books T-shirt and old, faded jeans. “Unless you’re okay with me showing up like this.”