Page 38 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
“Don’t worry, they’re made with normal flour,” Harriet told him. She grinned as she looked at Finn and took a seat. “I make gluten-free cookies, and Gray hates them.”
“They taste like cardboard with chocolate chips in them,” Gray moaned and picked up a cookie.
“You bake?” Finn looked at Harriet in amazement as he picked up a cookie.
“When I’m bored or stressed, I do,” Harriet answered. “One of my family’s chefs taught me when I was young.”
“You really are full of surprises.” Finn laughed, taking a bite of the delicious cookie. “Wow. These are good.”
The next hour sped by as Finn, Harriet, and Gray got to know each other. The more Finn learned about Harriet, the more he was drawn to her. He discovered that not only did she have a huge heart, but she was funny, witty, highly intelligent, and the one thing she’d never mastered was surfing.
“How about I teach you to surf?” Finn found himself offering as he was finally leaving to go home.
“Oh, no!” Gray shook his head. “Don’t do that,” he whispered before ducking out of the door. “Night, little sister, I’ll see you both tomorrow.” As he walked away, he shook his head in warning
“I’d like that,” Harriet said, stepping out her door. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Finn told her, but secretly not wanting to leave her.
“I need to pick up some more milk, and I don’t like calling room service this late,” Harriet told him. “The front desk is used to me popping down there in the middle of the night to get more milk.”
“I’m sure that’s why hotels have room service,” Finn laughed.
“I know, but…” Harriet shrugged. “I have two legs, and I need to stretch them.”
They climbed into the elevator and got out on the ground floor, stepping into the now dimly lit foyer. “This place is still quite busy as it’s nearly midnight.”
“You can’t tell me you’ve never been here this late,” Harriet stated with a smile. “Especially as Liam is your best friend.”
“You know, we don’t really hang out here a lot,” Finn admitted as they walked toward the hotel door. “Liam prefers the Beach Hut.”
“It is a more relaxed atmosphere,” Harriet agreed.
“Don’t come out into the parking lot,” Finn stopped near the front doors. “Thank you, Harriet. I had a surprisingly interesting and enjoyable time.”
“I know,” Harriet smiled. “I did, too.”
Finn was about to step out into the night when he spotted Estelle walking out of the hotel’s restaurant. She stopped and ducked behind a tall potted tree, not knowing that Finn had already spotted her.
“Okay, this is one of those times when I say, don’t turn around,” Finn warned Harriet, whose back was toward Estelle, “but Estelle is hiding behind a potted plant spying on us.”
“You know I’m almost obliged to turn around and look now,” Harriet stated, her eyes sparkling with humor.
“Instead of doing that,” Finn said, taking Harriet’s hands and drawing her closer, “let’s give her something to report back to her cousin-brother.” As he folded her into his arms, Harriet’s wrapped around his neck. He looked down at her with a frown. “Why is Estelle always with Leon’s family?”
“Her parents died when she was a child, and her uncle raised her,” Harriet filled in the gap. “Can you not swing me around so you’re facing the parking lot? Because now I’m dying to see Estelle hiding behind a tree.”
“You don’t think that’s going to be too obvious?” Finn said, leaning closer to Harriet so he could peak in Estelle’s direction. “Okay, well, I’m going to kiss you now and then slowly turn us around so you can see her.”
“Okay,” Harriet breathed, her voice becoming as throaty as Finn’s when their eyes locked and his lips touched hers.
Before he could stop himself, Finn pulled Harriet closer and deepened the kiss as the world seemed to explode around them in vibrant color before slowly fading to where only the two of them existed.
“Pardon me,” a male voice brought Finn back to the present, and he realized they were blocking one of the doorways.
He reluctantly ended the kiss, noting that the dazed look in Harriet’s eyes mirrored the same feeling pulsing through him as he stepped out of the way of the door. He turned them so she was facing the tree while he regained his wits after that earth-shattering kiss.
“Can you see her?” Finn cleared his throat.
