Chapter One #3
“I’ll take the box,” he said.
This time, she let him.
That was probably the most alarming part of the morning.
***
Aaron’s SUV was parked behind her rental car.
A volleyball rolled across the back floor. Two foundation polos hung behind the driver’s seat. A folded beach chair and first-aid kit occupied the cargo area.
Meagan glanced inside. “Your car is surprisingly organized.”
Aaron loaded the banners. “You expected chaos?”
“I expected more sand.”
“There is sand.”
“There is always sand here.”
“It’s part of the tax structure.”
She smiled.
Aaron placed the box beside the banners and closed the hatch.
“What now?” he asked.
“I finish the inventory list and check out of my hotel.”
“And eat.”
“Tyler is not here. You don’t have to carry out his orders.”
“I’m not.”
Meagan waited.
Aaron pulled out his keys. “There’s a café near the foundation office. Doris’s Driftwood Café.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I’m not being supervised through breakfast.”
“I was planning to eat too.”
“That sounds conveniently unprovable.”
“I went for a run before Tyler called. I haven’t eaten yet.”
She glanced at him.
Now that she was paying attention, she noticed the faint tiredness beneath his eyes.
“What kind of café?”
Aaron leaned against his SUV. “Important question.”
“It determines whether I’m considering breakfast or protecting you from poor judgment.”
“Small place near the beach. Good eggs. Better pastries. They serve coffee without putting lavender in it.”
“That is promising.”
“The owner will probably ask whether we’re dating.”
Meagan’s head turned. “Why?”
“She asks everyone.”
“That seems intrusive.”
“She’s eighty-two. No one has successfully stopped her.”
“And what do you normally say?”
“That I’m alone.”
The answer landed more softly than it should have.
Aaron watched her.
Meagan became aware that she had asked a question with implications.
“That was not an inquiry into your relationship status.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You looked like you were going to.”
“I was breathing.”
“Judgmentally?”
“Hopefully.”
Her pulse stumbled.
Aaron’s smile softened enough to suggest he knew exactly what the word had done.
Meagan looked toward her rental car.
She should leave.
Check out. Pack. Book a flight. Go home.
That was the sensible order of things.
Instead, she heard herself say, “Fine.”
Aaron straightened. “Fine?”
“Breakfast.”
His smile spread slowly. “With me?”
“You said you were going.”
“I want to make sure the terms are clear.”
“The terms are food.”
“Very romantic.”
“It is not romantic.”
“Understood.”
“No intrusive questions.”
“I’ll tell Doris.”
“Doris?”
“The owner.”
Meagan closed her eyes. “Of course her name is Doris.”
“She’s going to like you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Sure I do.”
The certainty in his voice made her look at him.
Aaron held her gaze.
He was not smiling now.
For one suspended second, the driveway felt too quiet.
Meagan’s fingers tightened around her purse strap.
“Why?”
Aaron’s expression shifted as if the answer had surprised him by becoming true before he was ready to say it.
“Because I do.”
The words landed between them.
Simple. Unpolished. Impossible to mistake.
Meagan’s breath caught.
Aaron looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.
“That may have sounded smoother in my head.”
“No,” she said before she could stop herself. “It didn’t.”
He glanced at her.
She smiled despite the heat rising beneath her skin. “But I’ll still have breakfast with you.”
His shoulders eased.
“Good.”
“It is not a date.”
“Of course not.”
“And afterward, I am checking out.”
“Understood.”
“And booking a flight.”
Aaron opened the passenger door. “Absolutely.”
Meagan stopped beside him. “You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you believe you’re booking a flight.”
“That is an infuriating sentence.”
“I’ve been told I need work.”
“You certainly have.”
She climbed into the SUV.
Aaron closed the door and walked around the front.
Meagan watched him through the windshield.
The morning sun caught his hair. His stride was relaxed, his expression lighter than it had been in the garage.
He looked happy.
Because she had agreed to breakfast?
That was a ridiculous thought. A dangerous thought. A thought she should not have liked.
Aaron climbed into the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
Meagan looked toward Hailey’s bungalow, then at the boxes neatly stacked behind them, and finally at the coffee he had remembered exactly.
She should have been thinking about checkout. Her flight. The work waiting in New York.
Instead, she was wondering what Aaron ordered for breakfast and whether Doris truly asked everyone if they were dating.
Worse, she was looking forward to finding out.
Meagan fastened her seat belt.
“This is a terrible idea.”
Aaron pulled away from the curb, smiling.
“Probably.”
She looked at him. “You’re supposed to disagree.”
“I’m trying to be honest.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“No,” he said, glancing at her as the ocean appeared between the houses. “But it could be interesting.”
Meagan looked out at the bright stretch of water before he could see her smile.
Interesting.
That was one word for it.
Terrible was another.
But as Aaron drove them toward the beach, the windows down and the morning air lifting her hair, Meagan caught herself hoping breakfast would last longer than necessary.
And that was the most terrible idea of all.