Page 49 of The Harborer
Ugh. Wrong distraction.
She flicked a finger at the cars chasing each other on the TV. “Doyoudrive like this?”
“Hell no!” he chuffed, eyes glued to the screen.
“Is this the kind of action you’re looking for in a different county?” She still couldn’t wrap her head around Shane wanting to leave Fall River. No lie, that little revelation had added to her distress tonight. She hadn’t realized how much she looked forward to seeing him every day, and she didn’t want to think how empty the town would feel without him in it.
“Hardly. I’d end up wrapped around a tree, and that just doesn’t do it for me.”
Whatdoesdo it for you, Deputy Shane?Maybe a little handcuff action?
Oh, for Gaia’s sake!
She executed an inner eye-roll at herself and scolded her overactive hormones.
Stealing another glance at him—something she’d been doing the entire time they’d been watching the movie—she took in his tall, muscular frame. He was dressed in red-and-blue-plaid PJ pants and a ridiculously soft long-sleeved tee. She knew it was soft because she’d had her cheek mashed against it when she’d cried all over him earlier. She also knew how lean and hard those muscles were beneath the shirt, and her mind had wandered to how his skin would feel beneath her hands.
Gah! Stop looking at him with x-ray eyes!Except … it was helping her scatter her frustration with a certain ex-boyfriend who would not be named.
Lean into it. No one needs to know.
Shane was so much more than mouthwatering muscles and rugged masculine beauty, though. He was kind, steady, and she’d been grateful to take refuge in his arms. Something about him made her feel … safe. As if no harm could come to her when she was with him. Besides her father, she couldn’t remember another man making her feel that way.
Thank the heavens the deputy was a gentleman and he’d pulled away because after spending delicious minutes cradled in his embrace, her thoughts had bloomed into climbing him and repeating that toe-curling kiss. Shane was utterly boneable.
Stop it!
She shouldn’t have been indulging in these thoughts about him. She was no better than other women who drooled over his very fine self. He wasn’t interested in kissing her again anyway. It had been a mistake. He’d said so himself.
Yet there was no use denying that the more time she spent around him, the yummier he looked. Was it a boomerang rebound thing? If so, she was way out of line. She’d only moved out of Micky’s this afternoon. Or had Shane always been so appealing? Watching him stride across her shop always lit her up inside, his gait confident, his smile easy. The uniform didn’t hurt either, not that she was into uniforms. But the cut of it and how it hung on his body had a way of highlighting all those masculine angles.
She sneaked another peek, hopeful he was so engrossed in the wreckage on the screen that he didn’t notice her covert ogling.
A thought she’d pushed aside earlier jarred her out of her lustful dream state. How were the sleeping arrangements supposed to work? It was getting to be that time of night, and her fatigue was catching up to her. Maybe she could curl up in his armchair while he slept on the bed, but they’d still be in the same room.
That’s okay. You’re safe with him, remember?Yeah, but washesafe withher?
“I can hear you thinking over here,” he mumbled.
Startled, she sat up and looked around, as if appraising his non-existent decor. “Just checking out your digs.” Lame, but at least it derailed her from the one track she’d been chugging along.
And it worked. His head tilted from one side to the other. “I’m not crazy about the old wood paneling. It makes the placefeel dark and depressing. There’s really nothing I can do about it, though.”
“What if you hung up some pictures with lighter colors? Or have you already tried that?”
One side of his mouth hitched up. “Not only have I not tried, but the thought’s never occurred to me.” He swung his head toward her. “Maybe you’d be willing to give me some pointers.”
“Me?”
“Your shop always looks so put together.”
She might have preened with pride if the comment hadn’t thrown her off balance. Micky had always criticized the way she decorated her store. She should have let it roll off her shoulders, given howhisplace looked, but she hadn’t been able to let the sting go. Why was that? Because she wanted him to seeherthrough the whimsy that was her store. Wasted time on a lost cause.
Initially, she’d thrown the decor together based on what she could buy on the cheap, but during the process, a style had emerged that resonated. Then she’d invited some of the artists in town to use her shop to display their pieces on consignment, and she’d added colorful prints, mosaic tables, metal chairs shaped like flowers or painted in fun, funky colors. The concept had worked well. Whenever an article sold, the artist showed up with a new one that fit the coffee shop’s vibe. A win-win.
“You really think so?”
“Oh yeah. It’s one of the reasons I love coming in. Well, that and your coffee.” She could have sworn he added, “And you,” under his breath. That was probably wishful thinking on her part.
