Page 28 of A Place for Daydreams

“Really?” Her face lit up. “I would love that. It would be so fun to get a tour of Rosewood Beach from an expert.”

He grinned. “Great.” He felt a flurry of excitement over the fact that she’d said yes. “What day of the week might work well for you?”

“I have off on Friday. Would that work with your schedule?”

He nodded. “I own the shop, so I make the schedule. It’ll be easy for me to make that my day off as well.”

“Perfect.” She turned to her computer and began to type rapidly.

“Are you putting it down in your schedule?” he asked, chuckling slightly.

She shook her head. “No, I’m checking the weather. Ah! Should be a beautiful day that day. Sunny, slightly cool. Perfect jacket weather.”

“Well, fantastic.” He found himself grinning at her, and he noticed that she was wearing a pair of gold earrings that had small diamond studs on the sides. She seemed to have applied a little more makeup than usual, and in the next moment, he realized that she’d applied a rich perfume, just as he’d put on cologne.

His heart rate picked up a little as he wondered if she’d done those things because she knew that she was going to see him that day.

Oh, come on, Dean, he told himself, trying his best to brush those thoughts aside.Don’t flatter yourself so much. She probably just felt like dressing up a little bit today—or maybe she has an event right after work.

Even so, he couldn’t help admiring her earrings and appreciating the lovely way she smelled.

“Well, now that we have that plan all good and settled, I guess it’s time to get to the real reason why you’re here.” Noelle smiled, standing up. “You ready for some physical therapy?”

He liked the energetic, cheerful way in which she spoke. It helped him feel less nervous about how the physical therapy might make him feel.

“Sounds great.” He stood up, smiling back at her. Even though he felt a little trepidatious about physical therapy, he didn’t feel trepidatious at all about the day that the two of them had planned on Friday.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Alexis was barely aware of the sounds of The Lighthouse Grill that were humming around her. She was sitting at a booth in the back of the pub, alongside a window that offered a breathtaking view of the ocean. A half-finished tuna melt with sweet potato fries was on the table at her elbow, but her attention was on something else besides her food.

It was her lunch break, and ever since she’d arrived at work that day, she’d been itching to open the fanny pack that she’d brought along with her and take out the things inside it. Those things were plastic strings, beads, and other tools that she needed to make a bracelet. She’d had the idea for a beautiful bracelet the previous evening as she’d been falling asleep, and ever since she’d been impatient to test out her idea.

She exhaled in a happy sigh as she gazed down at the progress she’d already made. For the bracelet, she was weaving three different strands of beads together in a lovely, whimsical pattern.

This was such a good idea to bring my jewelry-making supplies along with me to the pub, she thought as her fingers worked busily.I feel like I’m not even at work right now. This is so much fun.

She always enjoyed her waitressing shifts, unless she was particularly tired for some reason, but making jewelry was a whole new level of enjoyment for her. She felt both calm and uplifted, and although she had the patience to work carefully, she felt eager to see the finished product of her creation.

She glanced at her watch, noting that her lunch break was almost half over. She took another bite of her tuna melt, wiped off her fingers carefully, and then went back to work. In a few minutes, her bracelet was done, and she held it up to the light, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

She ate a little more of her food, and then started on another bracelet. Now that she was familiar with the pattern, she was able to join the beads and string them together much more quickly. In a few minutes, she’d finished a second bracelet and was moving on to her third.

All at once, she heard someone cough gently. She looked up, startled, and gasped softly when she saw her husband Grayson leaning against the side of the booth, smiling down at her.

“Grayson!” She laughed, surprised and pleasantly flustered. “I’ve been so wrapped up in my own world here, I had no idea you were there.”

“That’s okay.” He grinned at her. “I liked watching you work.”

She felt herself blushing. “How long have you been watching me?”

He glanced at his watch. “Oh, about four minutes.”

She threw her head back, laughing. “Well, either I’m just so comfortable with you that I’m able to not even notice when you’re watching me, or I was so engrossed in this work that I was blind to everything else.”

“I’d like to think it’s a combination of both.” He winked at her. “You were clearly engrossed in that work—you have thefocus of a true professional—and I hope you’re comfortable around me. I am your husband, after all.”

She grinned at him. “Well, I know for sure that I’m very comfortable around you.” She picked up the fanny pack and her purse, which were resting on the seat next to her, and moved them to the other side of her so that he could sit down. “Why don’t you sit down here and help me finish these sweet potato fries?”

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