Page 16 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

Noah peered into her basket. ‘Ice cream and sprinkles, yum.’

‘And milk.’ Hazel pointed out like it mattered that she was also buying milk, like that absolved her of her lies.

‘Making milkshakes?’ he asked, still smiling as though he knew her secret.

‘I had a craving, and my favorite shake place closed last year so I thought I would make one instead.’ She was rambling. This was ridiculous. Noah had no right to make her so flustered all the time. He was just a regular human man. And Hazel refused to think about the fact that this was the second time he’d shown up at the scene of one of her clues. It was the grocery store. Plenty of people were here.

It wasn’t weird that she’d just run into Andy in the produce department and Joe in the baking aisle, also looking for sprinkles. It was a small town. That was to be expected. This was all to be expected, including the handsome man staring at her like he wanted to eat her and wash it down with a milkshake.

Hazel swallowed hard.

‘So...’ She shifted the basket to her other arm.

‘So, enjoy your shake, Haze.’ He was about to walk away and she couldn’t let him because he was here.Again. And she didn’t want to drink her shake alone anyway. And she did promise...

‘It was a clue!’ she blurted out and Noah’s eyebrows rose. ‘I didn’t tell you. I found another book clue and it was about milkshakes but that seemed boring so I didn’t tell you.’

Noah’s smile grew. ‘A clue?’

Hazel sighed. ‘Vanilla milkshakes are objectively better. Colder and Sweeter. Evie smiled around her straw and took another sip.’ Hazel quoted from memory the clue she’d found this morning, looking somewhere over Noah’s shoulder instead of at his face while she said it.

‘Perfect!’ he said like she’d nailed her line for the school play.

‘Perfect?’

‘Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Vanilla shakes are the best.’

‘True.’

‘And we’re both here now ... so...’

Hazel couldn’t help her smile at Noah’s hopeful tone. ‘Do you want to have a milkshake with me?’ she asked.

‘There is literally nothing else I’d rather do.’ He held her gaze and Hazel believed him. She couldn’t think of a single thing she’d rather do either, as it turned out.

‘Sorry I broke my promise.’

‘I forgive you.’ He linked his arm with hers and escorted her down the frozen-food aisle. ‘But for future reference, Haze, milkshakes are never boring.’

Hazel laughed, relief and warmth and excitement flowing through her.

Okay, universe, or whoever you are, I’m officially done fighting this thing. Lead the way.

‘Your blender or mine?’ Noah asked as they walked out into the warm air of the evening.

Hazel didn’t feel prepared to let Noah into her space yet. That felt like a step too far. ‘Yours,’ she said, letting Noah put the shopping bags in the trunk of her car.

‘Perfect. Meet you there.’

It wasn’t until she was driving away that she realized Noah hadn’t bought whatever it was he’d come to the grocery store for in the first place.

Maybe she flustered him, too?

* * *

Noah probably should have mentioned that he didn’t actually own a blender, but Hazel had a tendency to scramble his thoughts.

But it was working out okay.