Page 73 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

He stepped toward her then, but didn’t grab her. He wouldn’t use his body to distract her. Not about this.Thishe needed her to know in no uncertain terms.

‘I have loved spending time with you, Hazel Kelly. I’ve loved all of it.’

‘You have?’

He reached out and brushed a curl behind her ear. ‘Yeah, definitely.’

Her smile grew.

‘And I’m just ... sorry. I’m insecure about this plan of mine and I took it out on you which is a totally shit thing to do.’

‘True,’ she said.

He stepped closer, her face in his hands again. ‘I’ll talk to your ... the mayor.’

‘Good. But don’t do it on my account. Do this for you, Noah.’

Her ability to cut right to the heart of him, still caught him off guard. ‘You’re very wise, Hazel Kelly.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s because I’m so much older than you.’

He laughed. ‘Luckily, I find older women to be very attractive.’

She reached up to press a kiss to his mouth, but didn’t linger. ‘I have to go.’

‘You sure?’

He watched her weigh the pros and cons in her head, her thoughts playing across her face. He’d screwed up tonight for sure and maybe she’d forgiven him, but apparently not enough to stay and roll around in his pillows.

‘Yeah, I’m sure.’

‘Okay, I’ll drive you.’

‘Thanks.’

‘And ... um...’ He cleared his throat. ‘The clues?’

Hazel gave him a small smile. ‘I’ll let you know if there are any more.’

It was embarrassing how much relief flooded through him at her words. He wasn’t ready for things to be over with Hazel yet. He was going to hang onto this crazy summer with both hands for as long as he could.

For as long as she would let him.

ChapterTwenty-One

The bookstore smelled like cinnamon, butter, and vanilla icing. It was Sunday. Cinnamon-bun day and the place was bustling. The weather had turned gray and rainy, forcing an abrupt end to the short-lived summer heat, and now suddenly the town was more than happy to be inside sipping their coffee from Jeanie’s and pulling apart cinnamon buns while they searched for their next read.

Hazel tried not to worry about sticky fingers on her books. She’d warned Melinda that having a gooey, frosting-covered treat in here every week might have unintended consequences like ruined merchandise, but her boss was having none of it.

Melinda wanted cinnamon buns. So Melinda got cinnamon buns. Hazel had worked out a deal with Annie for a weekly limited order of fresh cinnamon buns and the town flocked to the bookstore to get their hands on one.

She had to admit, it had been good for business. Most people left with a sugar high and a book. Plus, the store smelled amazing. And Annie had already slipped her a warm bun under the counter to snack on between customers.

‘Hey, Hazel.’ Logan had a to-go bag of cinnamon-y goodness in one hand and the latest book in the romance series Jeanie was working her way through in the other.

‘Hey. Is Jeanie swamped this morning?’

‘Oh, yeah, but she needs her cinnamon-bun fix.’ He held up the bag with a small smile. He looked happy, her friend. It was like he was the same old Logan but with a new shine. It was nice. She was glad he found Jeanie. Or she found him, as the case may be.