"What? No. Of course not," she replied. "What makes you think that?"
I gestured toward her. "You've been schooling me on the people and places of Talbott's Cove for the past ten minutes and I have to assume you're doing that because you don't believe I know how to find my way."
"Oh, I—I," she started, tapping her index finger against her lip. "Sometimes I lapse into tour guide mode. It helped when I first opened the bookstore and out-of-towners would ask general questions like, 'What's good around here?' and I'd just tell them everything I could think of."
"I've heard that about you."
Annette leaned back, stared at me for a second, then nodded slowly. "Is that what people say about me these days?"
"They've said you're uncommonly beautiful, intelligent, and generous with your time and knowledge," I said.
She waved away my words. "You're confused. That wasn't me. It was one of my sisters. Or all of them, blended together and averaged out," she added.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but I'm capable of vetting my own intel," I countered. "And I'm sitting right here, in the presence of your uncommon beauty and boundless knowledge. I'd say it's a fair assessment."
"Are you flirting with me, sheriff?"
I tossed my hands up in the air. "Finally, she notices," I said to the night sky. "I'm telling you, when I first arrived,everyonetold me you knew the nooks and crannies of this place better than anyone else. If I wanted to know what was up, they said I should get the pertinents from you."
"Oh, really?" she asked. I nodded. "Why didn't you ever stop by to get those pertinents?"
"I did," I said, laughing. "Several times. I discovered I couldn't talk to you for more than five minutes without wanting to touch you." I dragged my knuckles down her bare arm, not missing the slight sigh she released. "Why are you nervous right now? That's the reason for tour guide mode, isn't it?"
The breeze rustled her hair as she shrugged. "Yeah, it looks that way," Annette replied. "I am nervous. I've never been with someone without also having plans. I don't know what this is and I don't know what to do with it. Even with random hookups or friends with benefits, I had a plan. I knew where it was going and where it wasn't."
She glanced at me, her eyes shining bright in the near darkness. God, she was gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that hid behind homecoming queen smiles and epic blueberry muffins and the simple act of being nice to people. The kind most people missed because she distracted them with books and stories about old farms and piles of local gossip.
"Do you need a plan?" I asked.
Annette lifted her hands and then let them fall to her lap. "I don't trust myself to make plans right now, not after everything that's happened in the last week or so," she replied.
At first, I assumed she was talking about us and everything from her naked confessions to this evening. Then I realized she was talking about Bartlett. I fucking hated that. I liked the guy but I couldn't deal with this unrequited love bullshit. Not even for a minute.
Through clenched teeth, I asked, "What happened with all that?"
She shook her head, frowning. "I don't want to get into it. It's complicated."
I leaned forward to catch her hooded gaze. "Not complicated. Not really." She started to protest but I continued, "You're a smart chick. As you just illustrated, you know everything about everyone in this town. Of all the people in the Cove, you would've known the deal with Bartlett."
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Clearly, I wasn't making the progress I'd intended for this evening.
"Yes," she started, "but—"
"Nope," I interrupted.
"But," she continued, "Bartlett and I go way back. I've known him since forever and I wasn't really sure about—about, you know. His mom said it was a phase and—"
"Now that's fucking obnoxious," I muttered.
"And he took one of my friends to homecoming—"
"A million years ago," I said. "Here's what I don't understand."
"Oh, great," she muttered, rubbing her forehead.
"Why do you think that was good enough? I'm serious," I added when I caught her eyeroll. "Like I said, you're a smart chick and you have fuck-hot ankles. Why were you willing to rubber-stamp a relationship with a man who wasn't fighting off bears for the pleasure of your company?"
"There are no bears out here," she said, unimpressed. "Not usually. But it was good enough for—"
