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“Born and raised in Harbortown,” she replied. “This is tradition. It’s not very exciting, but it’s a lot more fun than a typical Friday night, so…here I am.”

The line continued to move until the hostess asked if there were any parties of two.

They raised their hands and were immediately moved to the front of the line and escorted to a table in the back corner of the pub.

He wondered if maybe this was weird, but realized it was no different from going on a first date.

They immediately ordered drinks before quietly looking over the menu.

“I thought I heard you mention something about a bacon cheeseburger and fries,” he said, grinning at her.

“Oh, I’m definitely getting that, but I needed to make sure there was nothing else that sounded even better.” She winked at him. “What about you? What looks good to you?”

Now there was a loaded question, and Walker held her gaze long enough to let her know what he was thinking. Harlow blushed slightly, ducking her head and focusing on the menu again.

It took a few minutes, but he decided to give the bacon cheeseburger a try too, and once they placed their orders, they were left staring at one another while trying to come up with something to talk about.

“So, Harlow, what do you do for a living?” he asked.

Her sigh spoke volumes. “To be honest, I’ve had a crappy couple of weeks at work and would love to talk about something else. Is that okay?”

He nodded with a small laugh. “Believe me, I totally get it.” Pausing, he scrambled for another topic. “This festival, you said it’s more exciting than a typical Friday night. What else is there to do around here?”

He didn’t let on that he was familiar with the area, but he enjoyed listening to her talk about some of the other local restaurants and bars that she typically goes to with her friends.

“There used to be a resort here in town,” she went on.

“Well, on the edge of town. Anyway, it closed down right after Labor Day, and it used to be a great place to go on the weekends during the tourist season. Once it closed down, a lot of places sort of followed suit.” She shook her head.

“We’re all really pissed about it, too. I mean…

they could have sold the place and helped the town, but…

” Another head shake. “Sorry. Sometimes I still get worked up about it.”

All Walker did was nod because the last thing he wanted to talk about was the resort.

“What about you?” she asked. “What kinds of things do you do for pleasure on the weekends?”

He almost choked on his drink because the way she said pleasure had him thinking of sexy activities. He certainly wasn’t thinking about bowling or going to the movies.

“It depends on my mood and the company,” he replied smoothly.

He held her gaze and he swore the temperature in the room went up several degrees.

“Occasionally I’ll grab a meal or some drinks with friends, but other times I prefer the company of a beautiful woman.

” He raised his glass to her. “Like tonight.”

She blushed again and Walker had a feeling things just took an interesting turn.

“Where’s home for you?” she asked. “You mentioned just getting into town, so…?”

“I travel a lot for work, but my home base is in Texas.” Pausing, he took another sip of water. “I’ve got to be honest, Harlow. It feels a little weird to not talk about our jobs because we don’t want to think about work. I’m not sure what we can talk about.”

Harlow arched one dark brow at him. “Well, I obviously can’t speak for you, but there is a lot more to me than my job. Although…I get what you’re saying. We’re not looking to get into too much personal stuff. So how about we just talk about the pub? Or the food? Or maybe the festival?”

“Would you have really come in and eaten by yourself if I didn’t say anything?”

“Oh, absolutely! I take my food very seriously. And although I like wings, I wasn’t in the mood for them.

Same with pizza. The plan was that we were going to grab something to eat and then walk around and take in all the arts and crafts stuff.

Personally, I enjoy seeing all the art, particularly the paintings.

It’s kind of a hobby of mine and I’m fascinated by what other artists create. ”

“Have you ever set up a booth at the festival and showcased your paintings?”

Her bark of laughter was her first response. “Hell no! I don’t think I’m good enough for that sort of thing. Plus, if I did it and everyone else thought I sucked, I’d be mortified.”

It was hard to argue with that.

“Do you have any secret hobbies, Walker? Something you haven’t shared with your friends or co-workers?” When he didn’t reply right away, she teasingly added, “I promise not to tell.”

“I play acoustic guitar. It was something I started when I was a kid, although I was in a band when I was in high school.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? Like a rock band?”

He nodded. “Yup. It was short-lived, and we were kind of awful. I got rid of the two electric guitars I had, but decided to hold on to the acoustic one. Every once in a while, I like to just sit and play it. It’s very relaxing.”

Which was why it was one of the things that was being delivered here with the rest of his belongings next week.

Conversation organically moved on to music—what he liked, what she liked—and after that, their dinner arrived. Naturally, then, the discussion turned to food.

Which was fantastic.

Walker totally identified as a food snob, so he wasn’t overly optimistic about the food being served in the pub, but the burger was juicy and flavorful, and the fries had the perfect amount of salt and crispiness.

And watching Harlow enjoy her meal was fascinating. She ate with gusto, talked a little with her mouth full, but she was so damn charming that he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Between her dark hair, dark eyes, and glossy lips that she kept licking after every bite were beyond appealing.

But…he was here to work on the resort. All of his time and energy needed to go into that and nothing else. He had a schedule and commitments, and more than anything, he needed to keep his focus.

Yeah, but…that’s all going to start on Monday. What harm would it be to focus on something else for the weekend?

Okay, that was a good point. And the more he looked at Harlow, the more he wanted to put all his attention on her.

So he did.

They ate, and when they were done, he paid for their meals.

“Walker, you didn’t need to do that,” she sweetly chastised.

“It was my pleasure.” Taking her by the hand, he led them out of the pub. Once they were out on the sidewalk, he smiled at her. “Show me around the festival!”

It felt like hours that they walked around.

Harlow showed him all of her favorite vendors and was definitely passionate when she showed him some of her favorite paintings and described why she liked them.

They stopped at a food truck and shared a cronut, and then further down the block stopped at another truck and shared some frozen yogurt.

As much as he didn’t think it would’ve been possible, he was having a great time.

When they hit the end of the block, he knew they’d seen everything.

“And that’s the Tulips and Toboggans festival,” she said with a small sigh. When she looked up at him, he could see a hint of disappointment there.

“It was a lot of fun,” he told her. They simply held each other’s gaze for several long moments before he asked, “Do you need to meet up with your friends?”

“Oh, um…they texted a little while ago to check on me because they were leaving.”

“They just left you here?”

“Well, they knew I was with you, and I told them we were walking around. It’s fine. Really.”

“Did you drive here with anyone? Do you need a ride home?”

She hit him with another shy smile. “Thanks, but I’m okay. I drove myself. I’m parked at the hotel.”

“That’s where I’m staying,” he replied smoothly. “Want to start heading back that way?”

Harlow nodded, and Walker knew he had about twenty minutes to come up with a reason to ask her to stay without coming off like he was being pushy.

* * *

Would it be wrong if I initiated a kiss or maybe an invite into his room?

Harlow St. James never initiated anything physical or intimate, but something about this man made her want to.

A lot.

Maybe it was because she knew everyone in town because she’d lived here her entire life and Walker was someone new. Or maybe it was because she was having a really great night and wasn’t ready for it to end.

Or maybe he’s the sexiest man I’ve ever met and just holding his hand is a turn on.

Okay, yeah. They were all good reasons, but that last one was the strongest one.

So she slowed them down to a stroll and attempted to point out some of the most ridiculous things just to stall their walk to the hotel down a bit. Luckily, Walker humored her and looked at wood-carved figurines, painted flowerpots, and all the hand-crafted toboggans.

If he knew that she was stalling them on purpose, he never said a word. If anything, he seemed more than okay with them taking their time.

Was it possible he wasn’t in any rush for their time together to end too?

God I hope so! She thought.

The crowd was definitely thinning out by the time they hit the end of Main Street, and with her hand still firmly in Walker’s, they turned off the block, leaving the festival behind.

Her mind raced to come up with something witty to say, but all she came up with was, “So? What did you think of your first Tulips and Toboggans festival?”

He playfully nudged her shoulder. “It was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, but I think that had more to do with my tour guide.”

“Aww…well then I’m glad we found each other. I would hate to think of you wandering around all by yourself and missing out on some of the highlights.”

“Which were…?” he teased.

“Come on. Tell me you’ve ever seen any better wood carved tulips! I mean, they were freaking adorable!”

“They were. They were.”