The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 2)
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: Chapter 13

Noah glanced at his phone for the twelfth time in the last half hour. Nothing. No word from Hazel, at all. He grimaced and dropped the phone back in his pocket.

Mac was watching him when he looked up. ‘Waiting for a call?’ he asked, a dark eyebrow raised.

‘Uh … no … not really.’ Noah went back to wiping down the bar for something to do with his hands that didn’t involve reaching for his phone again. He’d come in for a shift at the bar since he didn’t have a tour today, but the bar was disappointingly empty. Which made sense for a Wednesday evening, but Noah had really been hoping for a distraction.

Mac didn’t push further but Noah could feel the man’s eyes on him before he went back into the kitchen. His head cook had come down with flu and Mac was on the grill tonight. The man owned the bar but also seemed to do most of the jobs within it as well. Noah never saw him not working.

Amber came up to the bar with her tray and an order for a round of beers for the rowdy table in the corner.

‘That’s your tour for tomorrow,’ she said, laying her tray down and pushing the honey-colored curls from her shoulder.

Noah grimaced. ‘They look like fun.’

‘Oh, definitely. Should get a lot of good fishing done.’

Noah glanced over at the table where the guys were loudly arguing over the difference between a first mate and a skipper.

Amber laughed, her green eyes dancing. She was dressed in her usual waitressing uniform of a tight tank top and shorts and Noah couldn’t help but appreciate the long swaths of skin exposed to him. He happened to know she was just as gorgeous naked, but he hadn’t hooked up with Amber since last summer, and had no intention to now, despite the knowing smile she was giving him.

‘Still not dating locals?’ she asked, leaning on the bar as he poured the drinks.

He shrugged, trying to play it cool even as all his thoughts turned toward Hazel. ‘Rules are rules.’

Amber laughed. ‘Let me know when you feel like breaking them again.’ She winked at him before walking away and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted. Not because Amber was sexy, which was objectively true, but because things with Amber were simple. Sex and nothing else. They’d made it clear from day one. And when things between them petered off no one was hurt.

And now here he was checking for messages from Hazel every two minutes like a teenager. His feelings were already hurt. Why hadn’t she texted? Was he supposed to text? He didn’t want to come on too strong. Maybe he was supposed to wait until the next clue? He didn’t know the rules to this game anymore.

But all he could think about was Hazel. The taste of her and her little sighs and moans and the way she’d held onto him when she came and the feel of her head resting on his shoulder . . .

He wanted more of that, of her.

He tried to lose himself in the repetitive tasks of the night and luckily as the evening wore on more folks came in for dinner, giving him more to do, more to think about that wasn’t a certain bookseller.

Cliff and Marty sidled up to the bar. The two old fishermen had bailed him out of a crisis or two since he’d moved here, like the time he had a full bachelor party on board and an empty gas tank. Not a great way to start a new business. But they had happily filled him up and laughed their asses off about how stupid he was. It was a … layered relationship.

‘What can I get you gentlemen?’ Noah asked.

‘A beer for me,’ Cliff said, and Noah didn’t have to ask which one. Cliff would only say ‘the usual’ anyway.

‘Coke, please.’ Marty hadn’t had a drink in nearly a decade but he came to the bar every Wednesday with his friend to get out of his wife’s hair, as he said, and to make fun of Noah.

Noah poured the drinks and served them under the watchful eye of the older men.

‘How’s business?’ Marty asked.

‘Not bad. Been a pretty good summer despite all the rain.’

Cliff harrumphed at the mention of rain as though it didn’t rain back in his day or they didn’t let it stop them anyway.

‘And how are the girls?’ Marty asked with a wink.

‘I wouldn’t know.’

Both men burst out laughing and Noah just chuckled along with them. There was no way he was about to divulge his currently way-too-desperate feelings for Hazel to these two. Not if he didn’t want to get laughed out of town anyway.

He’d almost managed to stop thinking about her for more than five minutes when the door opened and the air in the room shifted.

Just like that, she was here, and Noah would swear the room slowed down, blurred, frozen in place. Everything but her. She caught his eye and gave him a little wave before making her way to the bar.

‘Hey,’ she said.

‘Hey.’ He tried for cool but knew it didn’t land. His smile was too big, his ‘hey’ was far too enthusiastic. But Hazel’s smile grew so maybe it was okay.

‘Oh, now I see,’ said Cliff from down the bar.

‘I did always like a girl with glasses. I like ’em smart,’ Marty added.

Hazel glanced at the men with a confused smile but Noah waved them away, hoping they would kindly shut up.

‘I just came in for some dinner.’

Noah blinked. ‘Yeah, sure, of course. Do you need a menu?’

‘No, I’ll just get the fish tacos.’

Mac had added to the tacos last summer when Noah offered to supply him with whatever whitefish he managed to catch in his spare time. Tonight they were made with deep-fried cod and Noah felt an absurd flair of pride that Hazel had ordered them. Like he had personally invented fish tacos.

‘Sure. I’ll get that right in for you.’

‘Thanks.’ She settled in on the bar stool and Noah rushed off to put her order in with Mac. And then the fates conspired against him. A bachelorette party arrived for night one of their five planned days of events. A group showed up for a twenty-first birthday. And at least four families arrived with kids in tow for dinner. Suddenly, Noah was overwhelmed with orders, pouring drinks as fast as Amber could put the orders in. Mac was slammed in the kitchen with his two line cooks and poor Danny was drowning in dirty dishes.

It was two hours before Noah glanced down the bar and found Hazel still perched on her stool. She was curled over the bar top, her intense gaze focused on the book in front of her. Hazel had brought a book to the pub. Of course she had.

Noah couldn’t help but smile as he headed toward her.

She glanced up just as he landed in front of her.

‘You’re still here.’

Her cheeks pinkened. ‘I was just going to read one more chapter.’ She shrugged, gesturing toward the book. ‘Guess I read a bit more than that.’

‘You brought a book.’

‘Of course I did.’

His mouth tipped up in the corner, unable to resist the little smirk on her face. ‘Of course you did.’

‘I always bring a book, just in case.’

‘Just in case of what?’

‘Just in case the person I wanted to see gets very busy doing his job and I have to wait to talk to him.’

Noah leaned toward her, his elbows on the counter. She wanted to see him. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Yeah. Is that okay?’ Her expression was suddenly worried behind her glasses and Noah wanted to kiss the frown from her lips but since they were in public and he still didn’t understand the rules, he settled for running his finger down her nose and smoothing out the crinkles.

‘Definitely okay.’

‘Good.’ Her smile grew again. ‘The tacos were delicious by the way.’

‘I’ll let Mac know.’

‘So,’ she said, leaning in, her head tipped toward his. ‘I questioned the book club today.’

‘Oh, really. About what?’

‘The clues!’

‘Right. Of course. And…’

Hazel gave her head a slight shake, her curls sliding across her shoulders. He wanted to touch them but kept his hands planted on the bar instead.

‘And,’ she frowned, ‘they didn’t seem to know what I was talking about.’

‘So they didn’t do it?’

‘I don’t know. I guess not. But now I really can’t imagine who would have. I guess you could be right about Annie, although I still don’t think she’s sneaky enough.’

‘Does it matter who’s doing it?’

Hazel shrugged, but her gaze slid from his. ‘I would just feel kinda … silly … if they’re not meant for me. Or if it’s all some kind of . . . joke.’

‘Haze.’

‘Yeah?’ She turned back to look at him and she was close enough that he could see the silver ring around her pupils.

‘So what if it is a joke?’ He kept his voice soft, not wanting to make it sound like her worries weren’t valid but just wanting to understand why she was so concerned about the origin of the clues.

She shrugged again, the crease forming between her brows. ‘It’s just embarrassing if everyone gets it and you don’t.’

‘I feel like we’re not talking about the clues anymore.’ He straightened and wiped his hands on the towel he kept behind the bar. The dining room had emptied out now and other than a few stragglers it was just him and Hazel at the bar. Marty and Cliff were long gone, thank God. He didn’t need them chiming in with ill-timed comments about him and Hazel.

He poured her a fresh glass of wine.

‘Is this like a bartender thing where you’re going to get me to spill all my issues to you?’

‘Oh, come on,’ he said with a teasing grin. ‘I told you mine.’

Hazel huffed a quiet laugh.

‘It’s not some long-simmering trauma or anything, it’s just we moved here at the start of high school and everyone had already known each other forever and I don’t know … I just felt left out or something. Or like I didn’t really belong here.’ She sighed. ‘Sometimes I still just feel like … I don’t know. Like I’m missing something. Or I’m going to commit some kind of Dream Harbor faux pas. I nearly got run out of high school for not dressing up for school spirit week. Anything less than a face painted with the school colors was considered a crime against the town. If Annie hadn’t adopted me, I probably wouldn’t be the well-rounded woman you know today.’ She gave him a self-deprecating smile.

‘So, worst case scenario…’ Noah leaned against the counter behind him, arms over his chest. ‘We’ve inserted ourselves into someone else’s prank and are now having the best summer ever. Even if the Dream Harborians––’

‘Dreamers.’

‘Right, Dreamers. Even if the Dreamers think you’re some kind of … clue stealer … that doesn’t sound so bad to me.’

‘That doesn’t sound embarrassing to you?’

‘Nope.’

‘Do you ever worry about what other people think of you?’

‘Pretty rarely.’

Hazel raised her eyebrows like she didn’t believe him, but she lifted her glass and took a sip instead of calling him out on it. Maybe he did care about what some people thought of him, but certainly not the general opinion of the Dream Harbor residents.

‘You didn’t care that everyone saw us at the carnival together,’ he pointed out, for reasons he couldn’t fathom. Was he trying to make her doubt being seen with him? Real smart move.

‘That wasn’t embarrassing.’

Being ‘not embarrassing’ was something, anyway.

‘But,’ she went on, ‘being the neighborhood crazy, book lady who thinks the books are talking to her so she plans the last two months of her twenties around them . . . is definitely embarrassing.’

‘You gotta let that shit go, Haze.’

She narrowed her eyes at him but there was no heat behind it.

‘There is no room for self-consciousness in HANSOF.’

Her lips tipped into a smile despite her efforts to tamp it down.

‘We are having fun . . . remember?’ he said with a wink and watched in delight as a blush crept up Hazel’s cheeks. She remembered. ‘Speaking of which, did you replace any more clues today?’

‘No.’ Hazel’s voice was tight and she cleared it before going on. ‘No clues today.’ He felt the disappointment in her face reflected on his own. ‘Maybe it’s over?’

It couldn’t be over.

He shook his head. ‘Nah, not until your birthday.’ He forced a smile on his face. ‘I’m game to keep going, if you are. I’m sure we can replace ways to be adventurous on our own…’

Hazel nodded, the smile blooming wider on her face. ‘Yeah, I’m still in, too.’ She glanced around the nearly empty room ‘I should get going, though.’

‘Hang on, let me just say goodnight to Mac and I’ll walk you home.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah, definitely.’ He had no set hours at Mac’s and the other man was usually just grateful for the extra hand. Now that the dinner rush was over, Amber and Isaac, Mac’s other regular server, could handle things fine on their own.

He said goodbye to Mac and settled his tips before meeting Hazel outside. She stood under the streetlight, the soft light gilding her curls. She was wearing her typical work outfit, tan chinos with a tucked-in button-down shirt. The shirt looked soft and loose and he had more than one perverse fantasy of slowly undoing each and every button…

‘Ready?’

Noah cleared his throat. ‘Uh … yeah. Ready.’ He followed her down Main Street, past The Pumpkin Spice Café, the bookstore, and Annie’s bakery, all closed for the night. They paused briefly in front of the pet shop so Hazel could peek inside at the kitten she wanted but couldn’t have because of her allergies and continued on past the other various restaurants and shops on Main Street.

The town had replaced the modern fluorescent streetlights with ones that looked old-fashioned and filled the center island in the road with flowers. Noah couldn’t identify most of them but he knew in daylight the street was full of late summer color.

A cluster of sunflowers rose particularly high, their giant heads looking almost eerie in the dark.

Hazel’s hand brushed against his and he grabbed it, twining his fingers with hers. She leaned against him, her touch lighting up the side of his body with little pinpricks of starlight. Her soft sigh drifted across his skin.

‘I think I like this time of year,’ she said as they walked.

‘You sound surprised.’

‘I am.’

Noah laughed. The night was cool, the sound of crickets buzzing loudly as they moved toward the more residential side of town with manicured lawns and front gardens. He’d been to her house only once when he dropped her off after Logan’s bonfire.

‘I always liked summer.’

‘Oh, yeah? Why?’

‘No school,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I liked being outside. The winter involved a lot of my mom yelling at me to stop jumping on the furniture and my teachers yelling at me for not paying attention.’

‘Hmm.’

He shrugged. ‘I liked being out on my dad’s boats. So … summer was it for me.’

‘It’s growing on me, for sure. Even though I still strongly identify as a cozy-season girl.’

He gave her hand a squeeze and she glanced up at him with a quick smile. ‘Sure, cardigans and knit socks and a lot of … pumpkin-flavored things…’ His voice trailed off and was buried by Hazel’s laugh.

‘Yep, you nailed it. Very cozy.’

‘Hey, I like fall as much as the next guy. As long as no one is making me do homework, I’m all about it.’

Hazel nudged his shoulder. ‘Do you read all those books you buy from me?’

‘I can read, Haze.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just … do you like them?’

‘I do. I like them a lot. Much better than The Scarlet Letter and that one with the kids killing each other… What was that one?’

‘Lord of the Flies.’

‘Yeah, much better than that.’

‘Agreed. I don’t know why they still make kids read such horrible stuff when there is so much amazing YA literature out there.’

‘Totally.’ He wanted to listen to Hazel talk more about books because he loved it when she did that. Especially at random times like in the middle of trivia night at Mac’s or when there was a long line at the Pumpkin Spice Café and she’d strike up a conversation with the person behind her. She never seemed self-conscious when she was extolling the virtues of her latest read with the inhabitants of Dream Harbor. Maybe he should remind her of that.

But right now they had stopped at her little bungalow on the end of a quiet street.

‘This one’s mine.’

‘I remember.’

‘Oh. Right.’ They stood awkwardly out front at the end of the little path that led to her door. He should go. He should definitely walk away and go home and not linger here in front of Hazel’s house like he wanted to kiss her goodnight, as though this was some kind of date, because it wasn’t.

She looked up at him, the streetlight reflected in her glasses. ‘Want to come in?’

Noah nearly groaned. Of course he wanted to come in. Did she know how much weight that innocent question held? Did she know that if he came in he would want to do so many other things, too? Did she want that?

‘Sure.’ His mouth answered before his brain could catch up and spit out an excuse. And maybe that was fine. Maybe he got two months with Hazel and he should take full advantage of that time right? Like, for whatever reason he’d developed some kind of sexy-librarian kink and he just needed to play it out. And then at the end of this they could go back to normal. He could go back to normal. So, yeah, he would come in and do whatever else Hazel wanted. And maybe he’d finally get Hazel Kelly out of his system.

He followed Hazel to her front door, thinking about how her lawn was a bit overgrown and wondering who mowed it for her, because he couldn’t picture her doing it given her alleged aversion for the outdoors. His fingers tapped nervously against his thigh.

Wait, was he nervous?

The answer was a loud, resounding yes rattling through his brain.

He didn’t know how to do this. He was adrift and suddenly, all he wanted to do was get back to his safe little island of casual sex with strangers.

Hazel turned to him and smiled in the mischievous way that told him she was about to blow him even further out to sea.