“It’s not a problem at all, Miss Jules. Welcome to town.”
10
JULIETTE
It waseasy to lose track of time at Hal’s as I thought about all the ideas Lily and I had discussed. I picked out the yellow paint color I wanted to order, as well as warm beige for the adjoining room if Lily wanted to switch up the color there, too.
Our earlier conversation of flowers also came to mind, both for Lily’s café and the cabin’s front porch. I knew I wasn’t going to be in the rental for long, but adding some flower pots would be an easy addition and add some color to the exterior.
I was looking through the aisle of colorful ceramic flower pots when the bell above the door signaled someone else had entered the shop.
“Hey, Hal. How’s the day treating you?” The voice was warm, low, and familiar.
“I’d be better if this dang machine was working. I swear this thing causes more trouble than it’s worth. What’s wrong with taking cash? How come I gotta accommodate those plastic cards?”
A rough, husky chuckle escaped the newcomer. “It’ll all be smooth sailing once we get it set up properly. It’s the samesystem I have at the bar. I’ll have it back up and running in no time.”
When I discreetly peered around from the end of the aisle, I immediately realized why the voice was so familiar.
It was my grumpy asshole neighbor, and he wassmiling. The corners of his eyes crinkled from his smile. A smile that made my knees weak. A smile warm like summer.
He tipped his head back and let out a low laugh over something else Hal said.
So hedidknow how to be nice.
He just hadn’t wanted to be nice to me.
It was clear mystery man was a local. The way he spoke to Hal. His confident stance and relaxed shoulders. He was at ease here. He had the same demeanor out on the dock earlier in the week.
And he mentioned he’d owned a bar. Had Lily mentioned a bar when she’d been showing me around? I didn’t remember.
I couldn’t look away from him, my eyes scanning his tall, broad frame. The way his muscles flexed as he leaned his hip against the front counter. His facial hair was shorter today—stubble instead of a neatly trimmed beard. His brown hair was tousled, like he constantly ran his fingers through it.
He looked a lot better smiling than he did scowling.
My cheeks started heating up, and my palms got sweaty. When did it become a million degrees in here?
I couldn’t remember the last time a man had captured my attention like this. Or the last time my body reacted this way. I’d been on my fair share of dates over the last few years—unsuccessful ones, clearly—and thenParadise Love. Mystery man looked nothing like Tony. Tony was always clean shaven, had his hair neatly styled, and always had on a dress shirt or polo. And my body never reacted like this to Tony—or any of my exes.
I really,reallyhoped my type wasn’t arrogant asshole.
After taking a final look at my neighbor, I let out a sigh and turned my attention back to the ceramic pots. I’d already picked out two, and there was a final one that stood out when I first walked into a store. A bright-blue flower pot with an intricate, colorful design that would look perfect next to the cabin’s front steps.
I leaned forward, propping my right foot on the bottom most shelf to give me some extra height. I reached my arm up to move the pot closer to the edge. Just as I got it close enough to grab it, my right foot slipped. I stumbled back but managed to stay upright.
The rest happened in slow motion.
The pot teetered, teetered, teetered on the edge of the shelf.
Then it tumbled down, shattering on the floor.
11
JULIETTE
“Fuck,”I muttered as I ran my fingers through my hair. I looked around for a broom and dust pan. Anything to clean this up with.
“Everything okay back there?” a voice called out. It wasn’t Hal’s, which meant…
