She leaned onto her elbows and fixed him with a fierce look. “I like you, Xander, but know this—Trappers Cove is my heart, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it. And Souvenir Planet is a big part of TC’s charm. I won’t let it go down without a fight.”
His besotted smile remained stubbornly stuck in place. “Your eyes sparkle when you get riled up.”
“Flatterer.” But her grin glowed with pleasure. “Zora says we Leos are very protective of our friends and family.”
“And am I one of those friends?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Would I put in all this work for someone I didn’t care about?”
“Hmmph. Sometimes I wonder if you care more about the shop than me. What if we’d met somewhere else?” Giving into temptation, he lifted a strand of hair clinging to her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, then traced the delicate shell with his fingertip. “Would I have caught your eye?”
Hannah’s cognac-brown eyes darkened. “Definitely.” The tip of her tongue slicked the full curve of her lower lip.
Xander’s mouth went dry, and his dick went rock hard.
“I’ve been wrestling myself since that amazing kiss.” Hannah said, fiddling with crumbs on her plate. “And I probably have been overthinking it. You need to make Souvenir Planet a success. I need to increase readership, and you’re handing me the perfect story on a platter.”
“I’d like to hand you a lot more than that.”Oof!He’d meant his heart, not his dick. Could he be clumsier?
She tipped her head back and laughed. “Quit trying to derail my train of thought with your dirty talk.”
“Sorry. My brain short-circuits around you.” He hid his flushed face—and his hopeful grin—in his hands.
Soft fingers threaded through his hair, and the pleasure of that simple touch ricocheted through him. If she lit him up like this with just her fingertips, what would happen when she pressed the length of her bare, supple body against his?
If,he corrected himself. Her consent was far from given. He’d have to proceed with caution.
“You have a good heart, Xander. You’re trying to honor Gus and all the hard work he put into his business.”
Thank God she saw it that way. And her assumption was true, sort of. He’d never surrender Gus’s legacy to some developer who didn’t give a monkey’s ass about Trappers Cove. His goal was to remake the shop into something that would enrich the town as well as his bottom line, and Hannah would see that once he opened his doors.
He grasped her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. “Yes, I do want to honor Gus’s legacy, even if we don’t agree on the best way to do that.”
A beautiful pink flush tinted her throat and cheeks, and man, did he want to see what that color looked like on the rest of her skin.
Hannah plucked at the neckline of her blouse. “Whew. It’s warm in here. What do you say to a walk on the beach? That always helps me think.”
“Fantastic idea.” Because what could be more romantic than strolling hand in hand over the sand? If he played his cards right, he’d get another kiss before they parted ways. Or maybe even more?
Don’t push your luck, Anagnos.
Chapter Thirteen
AsshefollowedXanderthrough the dune grass, Hannah’s heart thrummed like she’d mainlined espresso. A sharp wind whipped her hair into her eyes, and when she paused to secure it with an elastic band, he immediately whirled to face her. “You okay?”
“I’m great. Just need a sec.”Jeez, he has the ears of a fox.
Funny how that was the first animal that came to mind. Not a big cat or a wolf or bear or some other apex predator—no, Xander had a fox’s sleek beauty, sharp senses, nimble movements, and determination, not to mention his large, liquid, foxy eyes. With her heart trembling inside a flimsy chicken coop, she watched him plot his approach.
What a weird metaphor.Good thing she was a journalist and not a poet.
“Not too cold, are you?” he asked, all sweet concern.
“Are you kidding?” She tossed her head in feigned nonchalance. “I grew up here, remember? I’ve seen winds that’ll peel the flesh from your bones.”
He chuffed a laugh. “Noted. You’re an old salt, cleverly disguised as a beautiful lady.”
“Go on with ye, flatterer,” she said in her best movie pirate accent, hoping the heat in her cheeks wasn’t visible. She had enough miles under her hood to know that men used sweet talk as a means to an end, yet Xander’s compliments lit her up like Christmas.