Page 54 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
A startled laugh escaped him. ‘They are my biggest selling feature.’
Jeanie smiled, stepping toward him, already feeling herself pulled back by his gravitational pull. It must be because he was bigger than her. That was just science, right?
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘There are a few other things.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ A smile started at the corner of his mouth. A tentative, hopeful little thing.
‘Well, I think you might have a future as a detective or maybe a locksmith.’
His smile tipped bigger.
‘You’re pretty cute.’
‘Oh?’ A blush crept up his cheeks.
‘Yep. And not a bad kisser.’ She stepped into him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. ‘But I really am going to go.’
Her emotions were still way too all over the map to make staying here in this small space with this large man a good idea. She was bound to make decisions she would regret later.
‘I like you, Jeanie,’ he said, his voice low and rough.
‘Okay, good.’ It was good. A good start. But Jeanie still didn’t know where that left them and this weird, secret limbo they were in. She didn’t know if she was still willing to sneak around this town and pretend they weren’t together when it turns out she really wanted them to be.
‘Okay, good,’ he agreed.
‘I’m leaving now.’
He dipped his head and kissed her one more time, making her seriously reconsider her entire leaving plan, but then he let her go.
She hurried out of his apartment, still not sure who was protecting her heart in this whole mess of a situation.
ChapterTwenty-One
Logan was mucking out the goats’ pen when Noah pulled up the drive. He technically had farmhands to do this type of manual labor, but they were all busy pulling in the last of the apple harvest along with all the squash in the back field. That, and Logan was punishing himself for his shitty behavior with Jeanie. He’d practically shoved her down when his grandfather had knocked on the door. He’d hurt her feelings, that much was painfully clear. Of course, he did. No one wanted to be treated like you were ashamed of them.
As much as Jeanie had been cool with their little arrangement in the beginning. She wasn’t anymore. And now Logan had to decide if it was worth taking this thing public.
Was it worth failing, again, in front of everyone?
Was Jeanie worth it?
So, he was shoveling goat excrement to punish himself and to clear his mind. Who needed meditation when there was poop to clear?
Noah sauntered up to the pen and leaned against the fence, his forearms propped on the top of it while the Bobs nibbled at his shirt sleeves.
‘Hey, aren’t you the big boss man now? Your nana still making you clean out the animal pens?’
‘The animals aren’t technically part of the farm,’ Logan said with a grunt, shoveling some fresh hay into the pen.
‘Right. I forgot these are your babies.’ Noah scratched Marley between the ears and the old goat bleated happily. Or grumpily. It was pretty much the same sound either way.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nice to see you, too, buddy,’ Noah said with an easy-going grin.
‘Hey, just because your season’s done, doesn’t mean the rest of us have all day to shoot the shit.’ Noah had inherited his family’s fishing boat, moved to Dream Harbor a few years ago, and set up a fishing tour company. But by this time of the year, tours were few and far between. He picked up bartending shifts in the winter to make ends meet, but as far as Logan could tell, Noah lived a pretty laid-back life until summer rolled around again.
‘I came to check on you.’
