Page 7 of Only for the Season

I scan the line of waiting customers. All of them are locals and not bothered one bit by the appearance of Viking. Of course, they know the otter lives with me. He’s the mascot for Smuggler’s Rest – the largest town on the island of Smuggler’s Hideaway.

The other two towns on the island – Pirate’s Perch and Rogue’s Landing – have live mascots as well. Plank, the foul-mouthed parrot, is the mascot for Pirate’s Perch. And Rogue’s Landing has Rogue, the naughty raccoon that’s addicted to marshmallows.

Usually, the location of the mascots is kept secret since it’s tradition for smugglers to try and steal the mascots in the summer. But no one is taking Viking from me. I love the furry guy and I’m not letting him go.

I kneel in front of Viking. “Here you go.” I feed him a bit of the Selkie bite. “Did the mean tourist scare you?”

I understand. I nearly peed my pants when the reporter banged on my door last night. I won’t be forgetting to switch off the lights in the bakery while I’m baking in the kitchen again.

Chapter 3

“Next time I need a break, I’m going to a spa. Alone.” ~ Jeremy

Jeremy

“Good morning.”

At Eli’s greeting, I glance up from my computer. “Morning,” I mumble.

He lifts up his coffee cup. “Need a refill?”

I slide my cup across the kitchen counter toward him in answer.

“Paisley is happy you decided to accept my invitation for Thanksgiving,” he says as he prepares our coffee. “Although a little heads up would have been nice.”

I shrug. “I was trying to surprise you.”

He chuckles. “And ended up getting lost on Smuggler’s Hideaway.”

I grunt. “I didn’t expect the locals to send me on a wild goose chase.”

“They thought you were a reporter and were protecting me. No way was anyone – especially Parker – going to give you directions.”

Parker. Despite how annoying she was – giving me wrong directions is not very neighborly – I can’t get her beautiful face or smile out of my mind. And those curves? My fingers itch to touch them. My cock twitches. It wants in on the fun.

No one is having any fun, I remind my body. I’m here to finish coding the app. I’m not here to seduce a local.

Why can’t we do both?

I ignore my cock. I’ve learned my lesson about listening to it. Nothing good comes from being led around by my dick.

Eli sets a coffee in front of me and sits on the stool next to mine. “So, what’s up?”

I feign innocence. “What do you mean, what’s up?”

He barks out a laugh. “I have five brothers who are all shit stirrers to their core, I know better than to buy your innocent look.”

I try batting my lashes.

“You can’t fool me. I’ve known you since the first day of freshman orientation when you arrived in our dorm room wearing a Darth Vader outfit.”

“I was not wearing a Darth Vader outfit.” It was a t-shirt of Darth Vader. Not the same thing.

He raises his eyebrow. “My brother has the same t-shirt.”

I leap at the chance to change the subject. “How is Jaxon doing?”

He shakes a finger at me. “Nope. I’m not allowing you to avoid my questions.”