The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 2)
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: Chapter 23

It was early when Hazel pulled her little Prius into the marina parking lot. The sun was up but the sky was still streaked with cotton-candy pink. It was a Tuesday in September and the docks were relatively empty. Anyone that had been here for the summer was gone for the season and the locals with boats were either at work or still in bed. So she was alone as she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and made her way down to the water.

The day was shaping up to be a sunny one but the air was chilly, the breeze off the water making Hazel glad she’d worn a sweatshirt. Well, technically it was Noah’s sweatshirt. She didn’t know if that was weird but it just so happened to be her new favorite one. Just the right amount of big-ness paired with the perfect coziness. And the exact right amount of Noah’s summery scent. Not that she would be mentioning that last part.

A boat trip was the pinnacle of outdoor adventure. At least to Hazel who sure as hell wasn’t about to climb a mountain anytime soon. But she was feeling proud of herself for agreeing to do this.

It was all about stepping out of her comfort zone. And nothing to do with the sexy fisherman waving to her from the dock.

Ha! Yeah, right. One and a half weeks from her thirtieth birthday and she probably shouldn’t be lying to herself anymore. She wanted to be with Noah. Like for real. Like she wanted Noah past her birthday, past the end of HANSOF. She just wanted him.

But how he felt about the whole thing was still … fuzzy.

Which was why after this little adventure she had every intention of talking to him like the adult she was and just laying it all out there. Probably. Maybe. She still hadn’t worked out all the kinks in that plan. Like what if he didn’t want that, at all. What if he wanted to stick to their original agreement and Hazel was left embarrassed and exposed? What if Noah was perfectly content to walk away from all of this in a week and Hazel’s summer of adventure ended with a broken heart?

It wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind when she’d started this whole thing.

‘Hey! You made it.’ Noah greeted her with his signature grin.

Hazel pushed down her growing worries and forced a smile. ‘What, you thought I wouldn’t show up?’

His smile grew. ‘Nope. I’m just happy to see you.’

Hazel’s heart actually fluttered, something she would have sworn was physically impossible just a few weeks ago. ‘I’m happy to see you, too.’

She fidgeted under his gaze. Was a sweatshirt and jeans not appropriate boat wear? She didn’t own any of those boat shoes they wear in the LL Bean catalogs her mother still had stacked in her mail tray, so she’d just gone with her white canvas sneakers.

‘You’re wearing my sweatshirt.’

Oh, right. That.

‘It’s comfortable.’

‘Mmm. I remember.’

‘Do you want it back?’ She’d already started undoing the zipper when Noah’s hands came to stop hers.

‘No, I like seeing you in it.’

‘You do?’

‘Of course. It satisfies some deep masculine urge to mark you as mine.’ His smile was full of teasing mischief. He was kidding but a little part of her, a part she’d never confess to anyone, wanted it to be true. She wanted to be his. And in the spirit of equality, she wanted him to be hers.

She shoved all that aside and instead feigned outrage. ‘Ugh, in that case…’ Her fingers went back to the zipper.

Noah laughed, the sound startling the nearby seagulls.

‘I’m just kidding. You look cute in it.’

‘Oh. Well.’ Hazel shrugged even as her stomach swooped at Noah’s words.

‘Anyway, this is Ginger.’ He gestured with a flourish to the boat docked next to them, its name scrawled on the side. It looked like most of the other boats parked in the marina, at least to Hazel it did. White, with navy-blue trim, a few cushioned seats, steering wheel, two engines in the back. Typical boat, in her mind, but Noah was looking at her like he was introducing her to his baby.

‘A little on the nose, isn’t it?’ she teased, glancing at his copper hair, glinting in the sunlight.

He ran his hand through the coarse strands, leaving one side sticking up. Hazel reached up and smoothed it down. Noah caught her by the wrist and tugged her closer.

‘I missed you.’

‘You could have stopped by.’ She hadn’t meant to say it, had nearly convinced herself that she didn’t care that he’d disappeared for a week, but apparently the not-lying-to-herself started now.

‘I should have. I just thought maybe you wanted some space.’

‘Nope.’

Noah smiled at her quick response and ran his nose along hers. ‘Good, me neither.’

‘Good.’ He stole the word from her lips and she smiled against him.

‘Now,’ he said, pulling away from their kiss. ‘Are you ready for your first voyage?’

Hazel eyed the boat where it bobbed menacingly in the water. It wasn’t very big. Hazel had been on exactly two boats in her entire life. One had been a cruise she went on with her dads and her mom for her mom’s sixtieth birthday. And the other had been the ferry out to Martha’s Vineyard with Annie for a girls’ weekend.

Those boats had been large. Large enough to feel … sturdy. Safe. This boat looked like it could easily be tossed around.

‘Uh … yes?’

‘You don’t sound very confident about that.’

‘Because I am not at all confident about it.’

He kissed her again, sure and swift. ‘Trust me, Haze. It’s going to be fun.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Come on.’ He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the boat. He was vibrating with excitement and it was almost contagious. If she wasn’t also a bit terrified she might have caught it.

‘Here, give me your bag.’ He took the large, straw bag from her hand and his eyes widened. ‘What’s in here? Rocks?’

‘No.’

He continued to study her with an amused expression, waiting for her to go on.

‘Mostly snacks and a water bottle and a couple of books.’

His eyebrows rose at that. ‘You brought books?’

‘Yes.’

‘Several?’

‘Of course.’

‘Of course. For what?’

Hazel sighed. ‘To read. You know, in case there is a lull in the … excitement.’

Noah smirked. ‘There won’t be any lulls, I can assure you.’ His gaze skimmed the top of the bag and delight lit up his face. ‘Oh, wait, you brought book three of the Wolf Brothers series!’

‘It just came in.’

‘Thank God!’ He hefted the book from the bag and hugged it to his chest with one arm. ‘The last one ended on a cliffhanger and I was dying to know what happened to the seer.’

Hazel grinned. ‘So maybe there will be a lull or two today?’

Noah nodded as he turned the book over and read the back. ‘Oh, yeah, there might have to be.’ He squeezed her hand and looked up at her. ‘Thanks, Haze. This is great.’

‘My pleasure.’ And it was. Seeing how excited Noah got over these books made her feel like maybe they had more in common than she first thought. That maybe they could make sense together. They’d been making plenty of sense so far.

‘Okay, let me give you the tour.’ He easily stepped onto the boat and then gave Hazel his hand and helped her over. The water was relatively calm today, but the ocean always had a rockiness to it, one that Hazel immediately felt when she stepped on board.

‘What if I get seasick?’ she asked as Noah stowed her bag in the cockpit. Cockpit? Was it the same on a boat as on a plane? She’d have to replace out.

‘You won’t,’ he said. ‘I brought motion-sickness tablets and ginger candies. They always work.’

‘Hmm.’

Noah spread his arms wide. ‘The open sea awaits us, Hazel! Doesn’t that thrill you?’

‘It’s the openness that concerns me, actually. And the sharks.’

‘There are no sharks on the boat, Haze.’

‘What if I go overboard?’

‘You won’t.’

‘Hmm.’

He came toward her and wrapped his arms around her. It was chilly so she let him. And she liked his arms around her. That, too.

‘Trust me, okay? I’ll keep you safe. Promise.’

She tipped her face up to his. ‘I do trust you. There’s just a lot of ways this could go wrong.’

‘Yeah, but think of all the ways it could go right.’

Were they still talking about this boat trip or everything else between them? Hazel wanted to believe it could go right, she really did. But there was a reason she’d done the same thing for fifteen years, kept the same job and the same friends. Hazel liked to play it safe, and somehow that hadn’t occurred to her until she stood on this rocky boat, held by this man who might not be a safe bet. Who might end up hurting her in the end.

But adventures weren’t safe, right?

Getting out of your comfort zone was by definition, uncomfortable.

And if these last few weeks had taught her anything, it was that good things came from being a little bit unsafe, by taking a few risks now and then.

By trusting this man.

‘Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.’

Noah’s smile brightened his whole face. He planted a kiss on the tip of her nose and then continued the tour of the little boat.

‘All right, so first off, general boating terms. The front of the boat is the bow and the back is the stern.’

Hazel nodded.

‘Right is starboard and left is port.’

‘Okay.’

‘And this is the helm.’

‘The steering wheel?’

‘On a boat, it’s the helm.’

‘Fancy.’

Noah laughed. ‘Very.’

‘Will there be a quiz?’ she asked, running a hand over the steering wheel.

‘Maybe.’

‘I plan to ace it.’

‘I would expect nothing less.’

‘Wait, didn’t you say you lived on this boat when you first got here. How is that possible?’ Hazel looked skeptically at the bench seats. There was no way a man of Noah’s size could have slept comfortably on them, not to mention he would have been totally exposed to the elements.

‘I saved the best part for last.’ He gave her a cheeky grin and then lifted a latch near the helm. It opened up and revealed a small door that led down into a living space.

‘A secret door!’ She peered down into the compartment. It had a bed, a small one-burner stove and two more benches. ‘Wow, it’s like the inside of a camper.’

‘Yeah, it’s not much but it worked for a while. I got a gym membership and showered there. But the tight space got old after a while.’

‘I bet.’ Hazel pulled her head from the doorway and found Noah fiddling with some important-looking boat levers and knobs. She watched him, enjoying seeing him in his element. He was serious as he readied the boat, a side of him she’d rarely seen. She could see why people trusted him with their safety and their fun on his fishing excursions.

‘Ready to go?’ he asked, replaceing her staring at him.

‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’

Noah winked at her, the playful excitement returning to his face. He closed the door to the below-deck apartment. The boat was untied from the dock and they were off into the great unknown.

Or the coast of Dream Harbor.

But either way, it felt a little scary and a lot exciting.

And the perfect adventure to round out their summer of fun.

The trip went smoothly for a while. Hazel did a lot of staring at him while he steered the boat which Noah had to admit he liked a whole lot. It got cooler, Hazel pulled up her hood, reminding him of that day on the beach and the things they’d done, the things they’d talked about.

He was joking when he said that his sweatshirt on her made him feel like he’d claimed her. Mostly joking. He did love seeing her in it. Like a little proclamation to the world that something really was going on between them. Like they were in high school and she was letting everyone know she was taken.

It was ridiculous but it was true.

She looked so damn cute, sitting there, her cheeks pink from the air, her eyes bright. He wanted her there all the time. With him.

He shook his head. ‘Got any more snacks in that bag?’ he asked, distracting himself from the direction of his thoughts. Last week he wasn’t even sure if Hazel wanted to hang out with him at all and now here he was thinking about forever again. He needed to cut that shit out. Especially if he really was going to go through with his plan to help his sister. He might not even be here a week from now.

‘I brought scones from Annie’s or…’

Noah smiled as she rummaged through her giant bag. ‘Scones? Are we having a tea party?’

Hazel looked up with a scowl, but he could see the amusement in her eyes. ‘You can take the girl out of the bookstore, Noah, but you can’t take away her scones.’

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?’

Hazel had retired from piloting the boat and was curled up under the blanket he’d tossed her when the wind picked up. Her big brown eyes watched him, a worried crease appearing between her brows.

Damn it.

He’d told her to trust him and he was royally screwing it up. So much for not coming up short.

‘A bit of weather coming our way.’

‘I assume that doesn’t mean good weather.’

‘Uh … no, not really.’ He ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing with ideas on what to do. The water was already choppy, the white tops of the waves crashing into the sides of the boat.

Where had this damn storm come from? He’d been so confident it wouldn’t hit them. And then he’d let himself get distracted. He’d dropped the ball. Again.

There’s just so many ways this could go wrong.

‘Noah…’ There was fear in her voice and he hated it.

‘Hazel.’ Her face was turned out toward the water, her hands clenched tight to the metal bar beside the bench she was sitting on. ‘Hazel, look at me.’ His voice was stern, serious, so different from his usual tone that her head whipped back to face him.

‘I got this, okay? I have a plan.’

She nodded, her gaze frozen on his.

‘Promise.’

‘Okay.’ Her response was nearly lost in the wind. But he heard it. Small but sure. Trusting. She was trusting him with a whole hell of a lot more than her fun summer now.

‘Put this on.’ He tossed her a life jacket and her eyes widened. ‘Just as a precaution.’

It was raining now and her glasses were speckled with water but it didn’t hide the fear in her eyes as she pulled on the life jacket and buckled it over her chest.

‘And remember, if you see any sharks just punch them in the gills.’

A little whimper of fear escaped her.

‘I was kidding! God, Hazel, I’m sorry. I was just kidding. We’re going to be fine, okay? I know a place where we can wait out the storm, all right?’

She nodded. Just barely. No witty response.

‘And then maybe you can finally get some reading done, okay?’

He got a small smile from her at that and that was all he had time for at the moment. He had to turn this damn boat around and get them to safety. Now.