The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 2)
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: Chapter 20

The brewery was more charming than she thought it would be. It was small and rustic with a cozy interior for ordering and plenty of outdoor seating at several rows of wooden picnic tables. Lights were strung up in the trees above them and music that sounded like a mash up of country, folk, and rock came through the speakers. The air smelled like hops and over-ripe apples and the sun had just dipped below the horizon, bathing the space in a violet glow.

‘So, how did you replace this place?’ The spot was new, Marlow & Maeve’s, but it was already drawing a crowd.

‘Mac got some of their new beer to serve at the bar and I’m always happy to taste test.’ Noah smiled at her over his beer. ‘When I found out they were opening up a spot like this, I thought it would be the perfect date spot. Good thing your clues led us here.’ He winked.

Good thing.

But had it been her clues? Or Noah’s? Hazel had lost the thread of what was going on here. Could he actually be the one leaving the clues like Annie said? And what did it mean if he was? It was September third which meant she had exactly twenty-five days until her birthday, and what exactly had she accomplished?

Some fun outings.

A new appreciation of summer.

Plenty of orgasms.

Discovered her own sexuality.

Caught feelings for the sexy fisherman.

Damn it. It was that last one that was the problem.

‘What’s the matter, Haze? Cider’s no good?’

Noah’s hair had grown out a bit over the past few weeks and it stood up a little on one side today; Hazel wanted to pat it down, but despite all the things they’d done together that gesture seemed way too intimate and she was lost again. What the hell was she doing?

‘What?’ Hazel glanced at her glass. ‘No, it’s perfectly good. Quite good, actually.’

‘Then why are you making that face?’

‘What face?’

‘Like the cider has personally insulted you.’

She huffed a laugh and grabbed one of the bags of chips they’d laid out between them. The brewery had beer, cider, and snacks. She opted for salt and vinegar, letting the salty sourness coat her tongue.

‘Nothing’s the matter.’

‘Liar.’ He smirked.

‘I just…’ Like you far too much for my own good and I am already dreading the end of this little arrangement. ‘I just think I liked the first one better.’

They still had a few weeks to go and she was not going to ruin it by making Noah feel uncomfortable with her new, inconvenient feelings. Feelings would fade. Right? It was just all the amazing orgasms clouding her judgment.

Right.

‘Do you want me to get you another one?’

Hazel shook her head, not wanting another cider and also to rid herself of the ridiculous thoughts that wouldn’t leave her to have her reckless summer in peace.

‘No, I’m good.’

Noah quirked a brow and stole back the salt and vinegar chips, but didn’t argue.

The tables had filled up around them as the evening darkened. Groups of people talked and laughed over their drinks. Kids ran between the trees and groups of adults. Couples sat in Adirondack chairs around little private fires. Under the table, Noah’s legs tangled with hers.

Even though the day had been warm, the air cooled off quickly with the sinking sun. Hazel ran her hands over her bare arms and rubbed them to warm up, wishing they’d snagged a seat with a fire pit.

It would be even cuter here in the fall, she thought. She could imagine all the be-flanneled Dream Harbor residents making the short drive to enjoy the changing leaves and a hard cider.

‘Cold?’ Noah asked, already unzipping his hoodie.

‘Oh, no, I’m fine.’

‘Full of lies tonight, Haze,’ he said with a teasing smile. He came around to her side of the table and draped the sweatshirt over her shoulders. It was big and warmed from his body and Hazel couldn’t help but snuggle into it.

It was completely absurd, but no boy, or man as the case may be, had ever given her their sweatshirt or jacket or even a damn scarf to keep her warm. And it was equally absurd how freaking happy she felt now that she had Noah’s.

He rubbed a hand over her back, creating more heat with the friction and his nearness.

‘Better?’

Hazel smiled at him like the besotted idiot that she was. ‘Much.’ Her inner nerdy teenager was shrieking obnoxiously in her head. The cutest guy in town had given her his sweatshirt and she could barely stand it.

Good thing she was a mature, grown woman, though, and was totally keeping it together on the outside. Probably. She couldn’t really tell what her face was doing.

Noah wrapped an arm around her as he finished his beer and Hazel let herself lean into his side. She was sure there was a Dreamer or two around here somewhere and the rumors would beat them back to town, but she really didn’t seem to care.

For all the energy she put into wondering what people thought about her, whispers about her and Noah didn’t bother her at all.

Maybe because you really like him and he seems to like you and why wouldn’t you want the whole damn town to know?!

God, that inner voice was really getting sassy.

‘You’re never getting this sweatshirt back, by the way.’

Noah laughed. ‘Okay, consider it a HANSOF souvenir.’

Hazel’s dreamy you’ve-got-a-crush-on-a-boy thoughts stuttered to a stop. A souvenir. A souvenir to remember something that had a hard end date like a vacation.

‘Yep. Exactly.’ She finished off her cider and focused on the intricate artwork on the can instead of on Noah’s words and his arms and his absurdly cozy sweatshirt.

This thing was temporary. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? Hazel honestly didn’t know anymore.

‘Hey, can I show you something?’

Hazel glanced up and found Noah looking uncharacteristically uncertain.

‘Sure.’

‘Great, let’s get out of here.’

They gathered up their trash and headed back across the gravel lot to Noah’s car. Hazel held tight to the too-big sleeves of his hoodie and the very important fact that this thing between them was just some reckless fun.

‘Um … ta da?’ Noah flipped on the battery-powered lantern he kept by the door, illuminating the small space.

‘Noah, where are we… Wait, do you live here?’ Hazel glanced up at him and she looked so small and sweet wrapped in his sweatshirt he had to look away or he might just kiss her and forget his whole plan to tell her about, well, about his whole plan.

‘Sort of,’ he huffed a laugh. ‘Don’t tell your dad. I’m not actually sure this isn’t all very illegal.’

Hazel’s eyebrows rose. ‘Oh, it’s definitely illegal.’ They were standing in his partially renovated beach cottage, the one he hadn’t actually paid for or got any sort of permission to work on or live in… Maybe bringing her here was a mistake.

Another impulsive idea. Just like dropping out of school, just like leaving home, just like getting involved with this woman. The one that was currently staring at him like he was insane and possibly a criminal.

Shit. He shouldn’t have brought her here. He’d just simultaneously blown up this thing between them and his crazy plan in one dumb move. Was it too late to reverse course? Just lie about the whole thing?

‘But it’s beautiful,’ she said, cutting off his thoughts.

‘It is?’

‘Of course. Noah, it’s gorgeous in here. Did you do all this?’ She ran a hand over the butcher block countertops he’d put in the kitchenette. Her gaze traced over the tiny house and he followed along as she took in all the work he’d done. The floors he’d refinished, the ceiling he’d patched after he fixed the roof, the walls he’d painted, the windows he’d replaced. She took the lantern with her, shining the light on his work. Noah had never been good at sitting still and this little house had become his hobby in his downtime. It did look pretty good, actually, if he was being honest with himself.

Even better as he watched the look on Hazel’s face.

‘Uh … yeah. I mean, I had an idea to do the others, too. And then maybe do like a short-term rental thing…’

Her eyes lit up. ‘Noah, that’s a great idea. People would love these! And it’s like staying in a little piece of history. Oh, my gosh, we could look up who built them and when, and what they were used for in the past. We could put little plaques on each one!’ She was walking the perimeter as she spoke, past the chair he’d found at the flea market and the mattress he’d piled with extra pillows he’d found on his last trip to the home-goods store. Pillows he’d bought for her as he pictured her in his bed.

She finished her lap and was standing in front of him again in the little kitchen where he’d stalled out next to the front door, listening to her be excited for him, listening to her use the word we when she talked about future ideas for the houses.

She was smiling. Beaming, really. She liked his idea.

‘So, you think it’s a good idea?’

‘It’s a great idea.’ The worried wrinkle appeared between her brows. ‘You have some obstacles in your way, though. The main one being that these old shacks are owned by the town.’

‘Right.’

‘You should bring it up at a town meeting.’

Noah ran a hand through his hair, remembering what happened at the last town meeting. Heat rushed through his body at the memory of Hazel on her knees in front of him. Hazel must have remembered at the exact same time because her cheeks flushed red and her eyes widened.

‘You wanted to stay.’

He shook his head. ‘No, I very much wanted to go with you.’

‘Noah.’

‘Hazel.’

She frowned, hand on her hip. ‘You should have told me. We could have stayed.’

He flashed her a cocky grin, hoping to cover up how insecure and panicked he’d felt at the thought of presenting his idea to the whole damn town. ‘I think we had a lot more fun in that closet than we would have if we stayed.’

Hazel didn’t take the bait. The little frown stayed put on her perfect lips. ‘You need to at least bring it up with the mayor.’

‘Your dad.’

‘I like to refer to him as the mayor when I’m speaking about him in a professional capacity.’

Noah bit down on a smile. ‘Of course.’

‘I’m serious. You should talk to him. I think this is a really great idea, Noah. You did beautiful work here and if you kept going with it, I think it could be really amazing for the town and for you… and…’

She faded off when he cupped her face in his hands. He needed to kiss her, he needed to stop all these beautiful and wonderful words spilling from her mouth because he couldn’t take them all in. He needed to slow them down. He wanted to explore them one by one, slowly. He wanted to put them on his windowsill like secret treasures.

Hazel Kelly thought he’d made something beautiful.

For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like a screw-up. And for a minute, he felt like he could be worthy of a girl like Hazel.

He wanted to stay in that minute forever. So he kissed her, long and slow and sweet. Sweet until it wasn’t anymore, until it was aching and desperate, and Hazel was making little moans and whimpers against his lips and her fingers were clutching tightly to his shoulders.

He wanted to back her up toward the bed, he wanted to lay her down in all those pillows and kiss her everywhere. He wanted to taste her. He wanted to feel her legs wrapped around his hips as he dove into her.

She pulled away suddenly. ‘Wait.’

Noah stopped, hands still tangled in her curls, his mind still five steps ahead of what they were doing. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘You can’t keep doing that.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Distracting me like that. Whenever we’re actually talking about something real.’

‘This is real, too.’ He lowered his head to kiss her again but she extracted herself from his touch.

‘This is you running away.’

Her words stung. ‘You think you really have me pegged, huh, Hazel?’

‘I just want to have a conversation without you using your…’

‘My what?’

‘Your body to distract me.’

He knew his smile was cruel, he knew he was only lashing out because he’d been so happy a minute ago and now here he was feeling like he had nothing to offer all over again, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

‘Isn’t that why you’re here? I’m showing you a good time before you turn thirty. That’s what you wanted from me.’

Her face fell and he didn’t know how this night had gone so horribly wrong.

‘Then maybe we should stop.’ Hazel’s words were loud and final in the small space. Panic surged through him. Panic at losing her. Panic at this thing ending before he’d had the chance to convince her to stay.

He needed to back up, to rewind, to fix it before she walked out.

‘I don’t want to stop.’ Not exactly a riveting argument, but at least Hazel paused in her path to the door.

She turned back to face him. ‘I’m sorry.’

Noah blinked. Why was she apologizing when he was the one clearly being an asshole?

‘I’m sorry if I made you feel that way, that I was only using you for … for physical stuff. That’s not my intention. It’s just . . . I thought that’s what you preferred . . . and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but obviously I screwed that up.’

She gave him a weak smile. ‘So let’s just end this as friends, okay? Before we make things worse.’

Friends? Suddenly, the worst word in the English language.

‘Hazel, no listen. I’m sorry. I’m acting like a dick. This summer has been amazing. Spending time with you is amazing.’

She let out a little disbelieving laugh. ‘You don’t have to lie to me, Noah.’

He stepped toward her then, but didn’t grab her. He wouldn’t use his body to distract her. Not about this. This he 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 replace 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.