Page 24 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

“I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” he said, his tone carefully neutral.

Her gaze lifted and she stopped, her doe eyes wide. “I amsosorry. My phone was dead. I went to charge it at the coffee place and then I got caught up in conversation?—”

Hunter raised a hand, stopping the long string of explanation. “It’s fine.”

Daisy searched his eyes and then, as though accepting the statement, she released a breath. She finished picking her way through the grass and stopped at the bottom step of the landing. Her hands flitted nervously over her sleeves, pulling the cuffs down to her fingertips.

“Beautiful day for a”—she glanced toward the hill, still slightly breathless—“nice brisk hike?—”

“Daisy?” He cut in.

“Yeah?” Her gaze snapped back to him, brows raised.

“I don’t want to talk about the weather with you.”

“Right.”

He shouldered away from the post and stepped down the few steps between them. “In case you’ve forgotten, you proposed to me last night.”

“Yeah.” She laughed, dropping her gaze as she swept her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me. I swear I’m not a nut…”

Hunter rolled his eyes, cutting to the point. “What’s the catch?”

And the doe eyes were back. Wide and blue and beautiful. “The catch?”

“Yeah.” He stepped down another step, ducking his head to meet her. “We get engaged. I get the house. What do you get?”

Daisy’s face flushed, embarrassment creeping into her cheeks. “Right. The catch.”

Hunter nodded. Raised an eyebrow. Waited.

She licked her lips, eyes darting to the house. “I…need a house to renovate.”

Hunter’s jaw ticked. Of course. He crossed his arms over his chest. “There it is.”

“So I can start up my YouTube channel again.”

Hunter scoffed, closing his eyes as he shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

“And I’d like you to be my contractor on the channel.”

His eyes snapped back to her. “Excuse me?”

“Look!” She scrambled up the step, pulling out her pink-and-blue phone and tapping the screen. “These are the comments from the livestream the other day.” She turned the screen toward him, scrolling through pages of swooning comments. Hunter struggled to wrap his head around what he was reading. The number of hearts and flame emojis were…unnerving to say the least. “They loved you. I don’t think I’ve ever had this kind of engagement. Even at the height of my YouTube career.”

He stepped back, leaning on the handrail. “You want me to costar?”

Daisy grinned, a bright laugh bubbling out. “No. Just cameo.”

He relaxed an ounce.

“You’ll show up once an episode, let the viewers see what you’re up to.” She shrugged. “Flash a little muscle.”

Hunter’s brows shot up. “Flash a little mus?—”

“Flirt a little,” she said, her gaze carefully studying the sleeve of her flannel.

“Flirt—You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he huffed.

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