Page 107 of For the Promise

“You’re the one who fell in love with a billionaire,” Dakota says.

“Don’t remind me.”

“What can I get you ladies today?” Parker motions to the display cases. “I have baked peaches and cream whiskey muffins, pirate’s plunder muffins, shipwreck cookies, or Blackbeard’s revenge cookies. I also have some new cookies for you to try. Kelpie crunch, Selkie bites, or Siren’s snaps.”

Paisley snorts. “You always did love your mythical sea creatures.”

Parker narrows her eyes. “Are you saying Kelpie, Selkie, and Sirens don’t exist?”

Paisley raises her hands. “I wouldn’t dare. What’s in a Kelpie crunch?”

“Sea salt and dark chocolate chips.”

“I’ll have a dozen.”

“So much for avoiding sugar,” I mutter.

“These cookies are for you to keep at your desk.”

“Let me guess. They’re for my boss.”

Paisley grins. “I knew you were smart when I hired you.”

Dakota and I quickly place our orders before we settle at a table near the window. I bounce in my seat.

“It’s girls’ day out. What do you want to do?”

Dakota groans. “If you say you want to go on an adventure, I’m going to hide in the bathroom until you leave.”

I giggle. “You’re silly. I wouldn’t leave. I’d remove the door.”

“I can’t go on an adventure. Eli will have a heart attack.”

I raise an eyebrow at Paisley. “And he won’t have a heart attack when he finds out you’re atPirates Pastrieshaving coffee and eating cookies?”

“Nope. Because I am accompanying my friends while I drink a green tea.”

“You’re such a liar,” Dakota accuses.

“Fine.” I huff. “We won’t go on an adventure. What else can we do? There aren’t any festivals happening this weekend.”

Smuggler’s Hideaway loves festivals. There’s one practically every month. There’s the Moonshine & Merriment Festival, the Mermaid Treasure Hunt, the Bootlegger Escape Room, Mermaid Lagoon Races, Smuggler’s Reenactment Dinner, Hearts Beneath the Waves Festival, Find the Secrets of the Island Scavenger Hunt, and Ghost Tide Festival.

“You could always go to the Smuggler’s Market,” Parker suggests as she sets our drinks on the table.

The Smuggler’s Market is a craft fair where locals sell quirky goods — such as bootleg jam, contraband candles, or smuggled sea salt caramels. It’s nice, but it’s not the adventure I was seeking.

I check my phone again. Still no message from Jaxon. I haven’t heard from him in two days. If he hadn’t told me he was going to be super busy working this week, I’d storm into his office the way I did the last time he ignored me.

Huh. Maybe I should storm into his office. The previous time had spectacular results after all.

Dakota snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Blossom. Earth to Blossom.”

“I’m here.”

“You’re physically sitting here in this café but your mind is elsewhere.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Maybe on a certain nerdy Raider brother?”

Paisley studies me. “She always twirls a finger in her hair when she’s thinking.”

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