Page 2 of All You Need Is Love

Shannon shook herself from her stupor. “Lucky. Heel.”

Her dog whipped his head around, big brown eyes mournful, but he eventually trotted to her side.

I’m so sorry. Why wouldn’t the words come out of her mouth? Sure, she didn’t have an affinity for chatting up strangers like her cousin Ashley, and she wasn’t a take-charge type like her soon-to-be cousin Bella, but she did have common decency.

And yet, when a well-dressed man with gel-tousled brown hair, deep chocolate eyes, olive skin, and a straight Grecian nose looked at her, apparently Shannon’s manners disappeared. All she could do was stand there like an idiot, blinking hard as if sand had settled into her eyelids. If only she had that excuse.

“Hi.” Noah’s voice sliced through the silence, causing Shannon to jump. Before she could remind Noah not to talk to strangers, the boy moved around her and toward the man. “My name’s Noah.”

“Hey, Noah. I’m Marshall.” The guy’s face lit up with a grin—and goodness, his five-o’clock scruff made it hard to tell, but were those dimples on either side of his mouth?

Didn’t matter that it was only seventy-something degrees out and Shannon wore shorts and a tank top. She was sweating. “Noah, let’s not bother the poor man.”

The boy’s shoulders drooped at her words. He dragged his feet back toward the ocean, pulling Lucky along with him.

“He wasn’t bothering me. I’m afraid I was unintentionally bothering you.” Marshall stuck his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts as he came to stand beside her. He wore a white button-up shirt rolled to his elbows, and his silver watch winked in the sunlight. Hints of some sort of exotic cologne filled the air between them.

He definitely was not from Walker Beach. She’d have remembered him for sure.

“You just surprised us. I didn’t hear you coming at all.” Shannon toed the sand before forcing herself to glance up into his eyes.

Her efforts were rewarded with another view of his dimples—yep, they were definitely there. “That’s because I was here the whole time.” He nodded at the rocks. “I got into town way too late to explore last night, so this morning I found myself wandering the beach and ended up in this little cove.”

“And then we broke your peaceful retreat. I’m so sorry. And sorry about my dog. He doesn’t act like that unless I’m being threatened.” She winced. “Not that you were threatening us. He just misread the situation.” Goodness, she was rambling.

But she didn’t usually talk to guys she didn’t know extremely well. Shannon Baker had never been that girl—bold, smooth, flirtatious. Not like Quinn.

Thankfully, Marshall ignored her blathering and offered an easy laugh. “No worries. That’s the best kind of dog.” He looked at Noah and Lucky, who were knee-high splashing in the waves together. “He’s really good with your son.”

“Oh, he’s n—” Shannon hesitated. “He’s not my son … yet.”

“Yet?”

“I’m hoping to adopt him.”

Her chest warmed at the thought of Noah moving into Bella’s old room. In anticipation of her wedding next weekend, her former roommate had already moved into the house she and Shannon’s cousin Ben were renting just a few miles away. Afterward, Shannon had made a whirlwind trip to Herman Hardware and purchased paint and a few decorations to get the room ready for Noah.

While she’d painted, she’d dreamed of their future. Of stargazing on summer nights and curling up by the fireplace reading stories during the winter. Of learning about sports for the first time because Noah was interested in baseball. Of giving the boy a sense of security he could count on for as long as she had the ability to provide it.

Shannon may not be a former NFL player like her brother, a business owner and town leader like her parents, or a hotshot marketing executive like her sister, but she could do this one meaningful thing with her life.

A tear slid down her cheek. She swiped it away.

“You all right?”

Oh. Right. Marshall was still here. What was she thinking, being so vulnerable in front of a stranger? “Y-yes. Sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. I find your honesty refreshing.”

Her eyes shot toward his again, but no, his serious gaze seemed just as genuine as his tone. Still … “We should leave you in peace.”

“Eh, peace is overrated.”

It was totally her imagination, but the way he looked at her—gaze narrowed but soft—made her feel like he saw something there worth knowing. But that was ridiculous. She wasn’t anything special.

Besides, she’d misread a guy’s interest before, and she wasn’t making that mistake again. “I have a dinner to get ready for, and …” Her excuse trailed off.

“Ah, I see.” A tease lit his eyes. “Hot date with your boyfriend?”

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