Page 102 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

When she woke a couple of hours later, she groggily sat up on the edge of her bed, snatched her cell phone from the bedside table, and squinted at the list of notifications staring back at her. Man, she must have really been out because she didn’t hear a single bing or bebop telling her people were trying to contact her.

A text message from Matt.

Two missed calls from Suzie. No voice mail.

An email from Shelley.

And a voice mail from an unidentified number.

Blowing out a breath, Sydney sat back against her pillows and decided to scroll through the messages one at a time.

From Matt: Didn’t spot the guy. Keeping my eyes open.

From Shelley: The coffee was good. Dammit. We need a strategy.

Sounded like she needed to call Suzie back and get her perspective, but she’d do that after she figured out who this unknown caller was who had left a voice mail. For some reason, she wanted to a clue before she listened. Even though she sort of had a clue.

She googled the area code—Atlanta!

Does the plot thicken?

Calling voice mail then, she switched to speakerphone, so she could be sure she caught every word. Then his voice—yes, Steve.

“Sydney, we need to talk. I’m being as sincere as I can be with this call. I know you are mad at me and I don’t blame you, but I would like a second chance and want to make it up to you. I can explain everything, and I will. May I please take you to dinner this evening? And I mean a real dinner, not a picnic. No ulterior motives. No underlying miscommunications. Just dinner. Please?”

He paused and the voice mail went silent for a few seconds, but Sydney could still hear him breathing so she didn’t cut it off. Then, he continued.

“If you are agreeable to dinner, just text the word yes back to this number and I will pick you up at seven. If you want me to go away forever, then do nothing, and you will never hear from me again.”

Another pause.

“I hope that last scenario doesn’t happen. Bye, Sydney.”

She punched the end button, closed her eyes, and dropped the phone to her lap. She should call Shelley and Suzie and get their advice.

No. No, she shouldn’t.

They didn’t need to know this, or whatever she decided to do. This was between her and her scones and Mr. Steve Gate. Wasn’t it?

With this new coffee shop thing happening down the street, she needed to get the Steve Gate business resolved so she could tackle the new problem head on. And she wouldn’t be able to do that, until Steve Gate was either history, or…

Or what?

Hers?

In her life? Her boyfriend? Lover? Partner in crime. What?

She didn’t know and she wasn’t going to find out if she didn’t take some sort of action. Snatching up her phone again, she swiped back to the call, hit the button so she could send Steve a text message, and then quickly typed in “Yes.”

With a sigh, she got up and headed for the shower.

****

Seven hours later, Sydney found herself in the same place as the night before—in the passenger seat of Steve’s car heading to dinner. Steve had arrived at the bakery at precisely seven o’clock, gave her a warm smile and a brief hello, and then escorted her to the car politely as any southern gentleman would do.

They made small talk. Steve mentioned he wanted to wait until they settled in at dinner before telling his story. Sydney respectfully agreed and they drove out of Harbor Falls and toward the mountain. So far so good. She was starting to breathe a little easier.

“I made reservations for us on The Deck at the Lodge.”

Breathing easier lasted only two seconds. Sydney’s throat clamped up tight. The Lodge? The Deck?

The Deck was fine dining. Sydney had only been there when invited by Suzie and Brad. Not a lot of locals made reservations on The Deck. Usually out-of-towners and guests ate there because they didn’t mind dropping a few extra dollars for flown-in, fresh seafood or high quality, right off the ranch, Black Angus steaks.

Crap.

And double crap. She sure didn’t need to run into Suzie tonight, or Brad for that matter. She preferred to keep the fact that she was having dinner with the man Suzie had deemed a stalker to herself—especially after she’d spilled the incident at the gazebo at the bakery just that morning.

Suzie, or Shelley, or Matt or whomever else Suzie had told, would never forgive her. Or would deem her crazy.

Perhaps the latter is true? Oh hell….

“Oh, The Deck? Oh, I’m not sure I’m dressed for it. Maybe we could hit one of the bars in Old Harbor Falls?”

He sidled a look her way.

“I’ve already checked those out and remember, we discussed that yesterday. Same applies for today. Lots of college kids and music. I wanted to take you somewhere nice where we could talk. I’d really like to take you to The Deck, if you don’t mind. Besides,”

his gaze skittered over her body.

“You look beautiful and I’d like to show you off.”

Immediately Sydney knew she was blushing. Heat flooded her cheeks. “Oh?”

she looked at Steve and gave him a half-hearted grin.

“Thank you.”

She exhaled softly and watched him turn back to the road. Her heart spitter-spattered in her chest and suddenly, she felt warm in places other than her cheeks.

And he was in romancing mode again. She had to keep that in mind and not be swayed by his compliments. She was on a mission here.

“You’re very welcome. I look forward to enjoying your company this evening.”

Then he gave her a sexy smile that nearly curled her toes.

I’m in trouble. One adoring look from him and she’d turned to butter. What would she do if he kissed her again, or something?

She wasn’t going to think about or something.

She just hoped Suzie and Brad were home with a sick kid or something. Not that she wanted Suzie’s little boy, Petey, to be sick, she just wanted Brad and Suzie to be somewhere else entirely.

****

As he led her up the dining room stairway toward The Deck, Sydney noticeably stiffened. He could feel it in her back as he placed his hand there to guide her toward the stairs. Her spine was ramrod straight and she looked ahead while they ascended, her facial expressions unmoving.

They crossed the threshold onto The Deck and the server led them to their table. Her gaze darted back and forth then, as if she were looking for something. Or perhaps someone?

Who was she looking for? Or perhaps trying to avoid?

Time may answer that question. All he knew was that he’d been given a second chance, and recipe and scone award be damned, he wanted to make it right with Sydney. He wanted her to see him for the man he truly was, not someone he’d lowered himself to be the past couple of weeks.

A soft breeze wafted about as they rounded the east side of the Lodge, toying with Sydney’s long hair. He smiled as they sat at a table in the corner and he caught her hesitant grin back. Good sign. Perhaps she was now relaxing a bit.

Steve had scoped out the restaurant earlier in the day and knew it would be perfect for tonight. Secluded, yet public, the space overlooked the lake to the right, a marina to the left, with a spectacular mountain backdrop to their rear.

He wanted this to be a pleasant evening for several of reasons. One, he had to set the mood, so Ms. Sydney Hart would be comfortable with him—enough so that he could broach the subject of her scones and his fascination with them, and why he’d come to Harbor Falls in the first place. Two, he was excited to spend the evening with the spunky woman who did unexpected things. And three, above all else, he really wanted her to relax so they could get to know each other better. He liked her. A lot.

Her liking him too, would be like icing on the cake, er, scone.

He chuckled to himself. He had to stop saying things like that so she wouldn’t get the wrong impression. She hadn’t taken his comment about how her kisses tasted almost as good as her scones very well. And he had meant it as a compliment!

Nevertheless, she was still nervous, and he had to do something to calm her jittery nerves.