Page 30 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

“Oh.” What else had she been expecting? It wasn’t like he actually wanted to be around her. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

He shrugged away from the wall, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

He stopped at the exterior door. “Be ready at eight thirty.”

“Ready for what?” she called after him.

“Church.”

The quiet of the room swallowed her whole when the door shut behind him. Daisy let out a deep breath, the one she’d been holding since she got his text. And then, she pulled out her phone and typed a message to Robin.

Daisy

So…I might have proposed to Hunter…but on the bright side, we got the house. Call me. I’ll tell you everything.

ChapterSix

If Jonathon Island’s charming setting or endearing locals hadn’t been enough to make Daisy fall in love, her new apartment certainly was. Good Day Coffee had been closed by the time she’d gotten all her things from the inn and moved them to her new temporary home the following evening, but this morning, the café was awake and bustling, and Daisy had woken to the fresh scent of coffee and a view of the sun on the lake.

“Morning!” Jill called over the surprising crowd gathered in the shop as Daisy stepped in at 8:25. A line at least five deep curved toward the door. Behind the counter, Jill and her teenage helper navigated each other gracefully as they tried to keep up with the orders. Jill pointed toward a cup of coffee at the end of the counter with Daisy’s name scrawled on the outside. “A little something for you.”

“Wow, thank you,” Daisy replied, taking the warm cup in her hands.

“Oh, no,” Jill called over the sound of the coffee grinder. “That’s not from me.” She nodded again, this time across the room to where Hunter sat waiting. His broad shoulders were clad in a well-worn leather jacket. His dark eyes connected with hers beneath slightly furrowed brows. His short, tousled brown hair softened his hard lines just slightly. As he stood to greet her, Daisy couldn’t help but notice the way conversations around them faltered and the curious glances cast their way.

“Thank you,” Daisy said, suddenly shy beneath the eyes of so many onlookers. “For the coffee.”

“No problem,” he replied.

Hunter’s eyes darted over her head, as though noticing the commotion, the attention they’d drawn, for the first time. His dark gaze returned to her, and, to her surprise, his hand came up to her lower back, pulling her in as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. The gesture was gentle, leaving Daisy with an unexpected flutter in her stomach. She jolted, nearly spilling her coffee.

Whoa, there. Give a fake fiancée some warning.

Hunter stepped back. “You ready to go?”

Daisy blinked up at him, all thought cleared from her mind, save the fading feel of his arm around her and his breath against her hair. “What?”

A self-satisfied smirk slid onto Hunter’s face. “Are you ready to head out?”

The fog lifted and Daisy cleared her throat as she tried to regain her composure. “Ready.”

His eyes crinkled, apparently finding her fluster very amusing. “Great.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder, his heat seeping through her flannel. “Let’s go, then.”

They stepped out of the coffee shop, leaving the crowd of unabashed gawkers behind, and Hunter immediately let his arm slip away, returning to the distance between them.

Talk about whiplash. This was going to be a whole lot more difficult than she’d thought.

“So…church?” she asked, glancing up at him expectantly.

Hunter’s eyes remained fixed ahead. “Yup,” he replied simply.

Great. Mr. Monosyllable was back.

He glanced down at her, and to her surprise, added, “Service doesn’t start until nine, but we need to get there early to beat the crowd. Half the town is still back there in line for coffee.” He jerked his thumb back toward the shop they’d just left. “And Jill shuts down for the service in five minutes.”

It took a stunning fifteen-minute stroll up the boardwalk, the bright sun cutting through the chill, for the little church to come into view.

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