‘Are you okay?’ said Noah, glancing down at me.
He was so close – close enough to kiss, and in that moment it took every ounce of strength I had not to give in to the urge. Because what would happen if I did kiss him? If I took his face in my hands and leaned in, consequences be damned?
I knew what would happen in the moment, and I ached to feel it. But what would happenafterthat moment was another question entirely. Decisions didn’t happen in a vacuum.
I thought of what Tiff had said about choosing neither. Then about what Lara had said about choosing both.
What were you supposed to do when your heart refused to make up its mind?
When we emerged from the general store, Lara was perched on the golf cart, positioning a cowboy hat on her head as she instructed poor Jack to take photos of her. The shutter sound clicked rapidly as Jack obediently did so while multi-tasking with a crepe he’d picked up from one of the vendors along the boardwalk. I had to admit that I quite liked what I’d seen of Jack so far. Perhaps he had staying power beyond a fling.
‘Well, hello,’ purred Lara as Noah and I set our shopping bags down on the back seat. ‘Having a little outing, are we? With … Noah.’
Of course. The last time she’d seen me I’d been on Finn’s arm, and now I was with a different brother altogether.
‘I do leave the house on occasion,’ said Noah, amused.
‘We’re just getting some ingredients for dinner tonight,’ I said, hoping she wouldn’t press the wholeweissue.
‘You’re cooking?’ Lara raised a perfect eyebrow. ‘Look at you go.’
‘She also drove here,’ said Noah, a tinge of pride in his voice. Or maybe it was disbelief.
‘Shut up. You did not.’ Lara gave me one of her patented whacks.
I beamed. ‘We only had two near misses. Would you like to join us? For dinner? We’re doing a whole spread for Rosie.’
Lara cocked her head, holding her cowboy hat so it wouldn’t fall. ‘I mean, if we wouldn’t be interrupting anything …’ She considered. ‘You know what, we’re going to head down to the beach for a bit, but how about we swing by later? We’ll bring wine.’
‘I think we’re pretty set for wine,’ I said, contemplating Rosie’s enormous wine fridge.
‘Fine, a dessert. I’ll stop by Lorraine’s. I’ll let Tiff know as well.’
I frowned. ‘Tiff’s with you?’
Lara nodded. ‘She stopped by on a walk a little while ago. She said something about needing a meeting room because the Wi-Fi was being weird at the Pink House. Secretly, I think she actually wanted to try the scones at the B&B.’
‘They’re really good,’ said Jack, who’d just polished off the rest of his crepe. Apparently, he had quite the sweet tooth. ‘They make their own preserves. And they use Kerrygold.’
‘Rosie would approve,’ I said, climbing into the passenger side of the golf cart.
‘No. Nope,’ said Lara, shoving me so that I slid back over into the driver’s seat. ‘I was promised entertainment. You’re driving.’
I switched the golf cart on and we puttered off, too much cheering and whooping from Lara.
‘Don’t look back,’ said Noah, ‘because I don’t want you to crash the golf cart into the boardwalk railing, and about half the town is watching us go.’
I groaned, flooring the accelerator pedal. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
We trundled back to the housesansany additional drama, although Noah did help me park the cart back in the garage just in case I managed to hit a load-bearing wall.
‘Wow,’ I said, wiping my palms down on my skirt. ‘I can’t believe I actually did that.’
‘There and back again,’ said Noah, amused. ‘Like a hobbit.’
‘Minus the hairy feet.’
When he shot me a slightly concerned look, I added, ‘I shave them.’
