Page 3 of Stars Shine In Your Eyes

There was no hint of recognition in his eyes. She’d been right. He didn’t remember her at all. Even though it felt weird that he didn’t seem to recognize her, she was grateful.

He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Yes, Mari called at the last second and asked me to give you a lift.” He looked at the two enormous suitcases behind her. “You don’t travel light, do you?”

Perhaps if he hadn’t seemed quite so grumpy, she would have explained that only one of the bags had clothes in it. The other was full of books. Even though she was here to work with a bookstore owner, and also knew that there were a zillion bookstores throughout London, she still carried certain books with her everywhere, the way a craftsman might carry their own tools to do a job. These books were all precious to her for one reason or another, and she knew better than anyone that they could help a person heal.

But at this very moment, she couldn’t find her voice. Not now that she’d heard his. It was lower than she remembered, because he was a man now rather than a boy on the verge of manhood. But she no longer had one single doubt that this was Malcolm Sullivan in the flesh, the foreign exchange student who’d rocked her world… and then broken her heart. All in a single night.

His eyes narrowed as he waited for her to speak, and she knew she was making a terrible first impression. Or rather, a terrible first impression fifteen years after they’d last seen each other.

“We know each other,” she blurted. Wait. Where had that come from? What was wrong with her jet-lagged brain?

He appeared astonished at this news.

Okay, so she no longer wore thick glasses, had grown several inches since high school, dressed better, and had changed her name from Josephine to Josie. So she could understand why he might not be able to connect her with that random girl he’d kissed back in Coeur d’Alene so many years ago.

And yet, she was so flabbergasted to come face to face with him again, she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “We knew each other in high school. You were the foreign exchange student from England. You dated Brianna Sterling. The cheerleader. And at the prom, when I was a sophomore, we—”

Oh no. Really? She had almost brought up the kiss that had begun like heaven and ended like hell within the first sixty seconds of speaking with him?

Josie was doubly mortified when recognition finally came into his eyes… along with what looked like horror at seeing her again after all these years.

“I didn’t realize you were the person Mari was going to be working with.” He obviously didn’t think this was good news.

It was a tiny bit gratifying that he seemed as stunned as she was. As though he’d woken up in an alternate reality where the random girl he’d kissed and then dissed back in high school was not only standing in front of him, but was also about to move onto his houseboat for a few weeks.

At a loss for something better to say, she opted for, “Thanks for coming to pick me up. I literally just saw Mari’s texts saying that she couldn’t get away from the store.”

Just like that, he snapped into action. Without asking, he took hold of one of her suitcases and headed for the elevators that led to the parking garage. Despite his grumpy demeanor, it was lovely of him to help, even if she wished he’d grabbed the heaviest bag instead.

“It’s not a long drive to the island,” he said over his shoulder, carrying her bag as though it weighed nothing, “so if traffic’s not bad, we should be on Elderflower Island in about twenty-five minutes.”

She tried to follow at his pace, but her bag was so heavy. She was breaking into a sweat, and even though her suitcase was on wheels, she felt like she was dragging a block of concrete through the crowded airport.

When he finally realized just how far behind she’d fallen, he waited until she caught up. “How heavy is your bag?”

“It’s all books,” she explained. “So it’s really, really heavy.”

He frowned again. “You brought books with you when you’re going to be working out of a bookstore?”

Anything she said to explain the situation at this moment would surely come out wrong. “I did.”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t his business anyway and frankly, he didn’t care. “It will be faster if I take both bags.”

Before she could say that she could handle the books just fine on her own—especially when that was clearly not the case—he rolled both suitcases toward the elevator, leaving her with only her carry-on.

Despite what a physical relief it was to not have to roll the bag, she couldn’t help but feel that she was giving him the upper hand. And after what he’d done to her in high school, even if it was fifteen years ago, there was a part of her that couldn’t stand the idea of letting him get the upper hand with her ever again.

Which was why she said, “I can handle it,” and then proceeded to wrestle the bag back from him.

It would have been funny, she supposed, if the two of them grappling over a suitcase and blocking the entrance to the elevator hadn’t been so ridiculous.

Finally, he all but shoved the bag back at her. “If you want it that badly, it’s all yours,” he said, dialing his Mr. Cranky act up to eleven.

And yet… cranky or not, he was still the best-looking man she’d ever set eyes on. Not to mention that his deep voice and charming-as-hell British accent still felt like red wine flowing through her veins.

Every feminine part of her that had gone dormant these past two years felt like it had just sparked back to life. Like someone had plugged her into a sensual wall socket, and now her battery was fully charged, ready and raring to go.

No, she silently reprimanded herself in a firm voice. No. No. No.

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