Page 83 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

He laughed and Hazel flashed him a smile.

‘I also have chips, granola bars, trail mix, pretzels...’

‘Chips!’ He cut her off before she could continue her list.

Hazel tossed him a bag.

He let them drift for a bit while they ate, enjoying the late morning sun. Hazel was stretched out on the bench across from him, popping little bites of scone in her mouth, sipping her tea from her travel mug.

‘So, pretend I’m a customer,’ she said after a while, her gaze out at the water. ‘How would that go?’

‘Well,’ Noah put his arms behind his head, leaning back in his chair, ‘we would have agreed on a set amount of time when we booked the tour.’

‘Sure, of course.’ She was watching him now, her big eyes taking him in like she always did. She looked at him like maybe he didn’t come up short in her eyes. Hazel was the one person in his life who looked at him and he didn’t feel like she was searching for something that wasn’t there.

And God, wasn’t that addictive? That feeling that maybe you were enough.

‘Right.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And then I’d take you out to my best fishing spots, depending on the time of year and what you’re interested in catching, of course.’

‘Do people get mad if they don’t catch anything?’ she asked.

‘Sometimes, but I try to make sure it’s a fun day, even if we don’t catch anything.’

Hazel nodded, looking back out over the water. Clouds were rolling in, casting shadows over the waves.

‘Want to drive?’ he asked and Hazel’s surprised gaze found his again.

‘Is that part of the package?’ she asked, eyebrows raised.

He chuckled. ‘Only for you.’

She grinned at that and stood from her spot, brushing crumbs off her lap. ‘What if I hit something?’

‘Haze,’ he laughed. ‘What could you possibly hit?’

‘You’d be surprised.’

He tugged her closer. ‘I think you’ll be okay.’ He sat her on his lap, his arms around her waist. She was warm and soft and smelled like whatever Annie had iced those scones with. Sweet and a little spicy, like Hazel. ‘Hands on the wheel,’ he instructed.

‘This feels like a flimsy excuse to get me in your lap,’ she grumbled but he could hear the smile in her voice.

‘And it worked,’ he whispered in her ear and she shivered.

‘Aye, aye, Captain.’ She put her hands on the wheel and then wriggled further into his lap. Noah groaned and she laughed, knowing exactly what she was doing to him. Hazel’s round ass nestled between his thighs was the best distraction.

‘Haze,’ he groaned and she did it again, a little squirm against him. Why had he stayed away from this woman for a week? If this was the only time he got with her, he needed to stop wasting it.

He pressed a kiss behind her ear, keeping his arms around her waist while she steered the boat in the open water, savoring the feel of her against him.

And if it wasn’t such a perfect day, if Hazel hadn’t been so delicious in his arms, then maybe he would have been paying more attention to the weather.

He’d meant to be back on shore before late afternoon. The nor’easter wasn’t meant to hit them this time around. It was forecast to be just south of Dream Harbor. He’d checked. He’d watched the satellite all morning. But now here they were, farther from home than he’d intended, and the sky was quickly filling with dark clouds. The earlier soft breeze had rapidly turned harsher, colder.

The satellite no longer showed the nor’easter skirting past them. In fact, now it showed the edge of it falling right over their current path home.

‘Shit,’ he muttered.

‘What is it?’