Page 39 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

But stronger than the feeling of Archer’s big, warm hand was the feeling of the town watching them. And Iris knew this town. She knew how they thought and how they talked. And if they thought anything untoward was going on between her and Archer, what would that mean for his custody agreement?

The town would probably be delighted if they were officially together, but Archer couldn’t be seen as someone who had casual flings left and right. What kind of environment would that be for a little girl? Never mind that it was the exact environment that Iris had grown up in, and she’d turned out just fine, except for maybe a bit of an issue with commitment.

But that didn’t matter. Archer needed to be seen as the responsible dad that he was.

And she could not get in the way of that.

‘We should probably find Olive,’ she said, taking a hard right past the last booth and onto the grassy lawn where she’d last seen Olive and Kira. Archer’s hand dropped from her back and she refused to feel sad about its absence. It was one thing to flirt with Archer in the privacy of his own home, but out here they needed to be careful.

She had to be careful with this considerate man and his little girl. The last thing she wanted was to cause problems for either of them.

ChapterSixteen

‘Ihave a great idea,’ Iris announced as she swept into the kitchen. She’d had a yoga class to teach this evening, so Archer hadn’t seen her for dinner with Olive. It had been a silent and awkward meal, but his daughter had eaten two servings of pasta with copious amounts of butter and parmesan on it, so he wasn’t going to push her to speak, too. One thing at a time.

‘Oh?’ he asked.

‘A town meeting,’ she said triumphantly like this should make sense to him.

‘What about it?’

‘Oh, right, I forgot you’re an outsider,’ she said with a teasing smile. ‘Dream Harbor has biweekly town meetings where people can bring up any issues pertinent to the community.’

‘Okay…’

She let out a frustrated breath and he tried not to notice how cute she was when she was excited. But it was impossible. She was adorable. It had been impossible not to notice as she led him through the farmers’ market yesterday and it was impossible now as she hopped up onto her usual stool, eyes bright with her great idea.

‘I thought we could go and ask if anyone had thoughts on the pancake recipe.’

He wiped his hands on the towel hanging over his shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest. He did not stand like that to make Iris’s gaze flick over his biceps, he just happened to be comfortable this way. And if Iris noticed his arms, well, that was not his fault.

‘Let me get this straight,’ he said. ‘You want me to try and get some kind of town consensus on this pancake recipe?’

‘I heard you put poppy seeds in the pancakes last week, Archer.’ She raised a brow in accusation.

‘I did.’

‘People did not like it.’

‘I know.’

‘Okay, so I think this might be a good way to get some more ideas on things to try.’

‘I don’t think so.’

Her face fell and he wanted to kick himself, but pleasing Iris was not something that should be on his list of priorities. Keeping the diner afloat and Olive alive were his priorities. Not seeing the nanny smile.

‘It’s my diner now and I’m in charge of the menu. I’m going with what I think is best.’

There was something new in her eyes when she looked at him again, something he hadn’t seen from her. She looked … pissed.

‘What’s it like?’ she asked with a little scoff.

‘What’s what like?’

‘To be so damn confident in yourself, to think you know what’s best about everything?’

‘I don’t?—’