Sherryl Woods - Harbour Lights

It was the I think that kept him squarely in place. He resigned himself to a very long day. “I’m here. We might as well finish, or at least get as many done as we can today.”

And as long as they were focused on the shelves, there was little time for personal chitchat, no time for his gaze to linger on her soft curves and the shapely legs revealed by a pair of shorts. There were only a few spare seconds for that quick hint of betrayal that flashed through him when he did feel a stirring of interest in this woman who wasn’t Georgia.

That thought was so troubling, he stood up abruptly. “First, though, I think we need some lunch. I’ll run over to Sally’s and pick something up. Anything in particular you want?”

Shanna looked startled, but she recovered quickly. “Sure, a tuna on whole wheat would be great. Maybe some chips.” She met his gaze. “But I’m buying. I’ll get my purse.”

“I’ll pay for it,” Kevin said, but she’d already turned and headed to the back room.

He stood staring after her. In that instant, he realized for the first time that she was as skittish as he was, maybe even more so. If looking at her aroused his masculine appreciation, then this sign of vulnerability intrigued him in a way that was far more frightening. It was one thing to be here, helping out a newcomer to town. It was something else entirely to allow himself to be fascinated by her. Bree would gloat from now till doomsday if she ever found out her scheme just might be working.

Shanna had recognized the panic in Kevin’s eyes earlier in the day. She was pretty sure it was reflected in her own. After that one moment of disconcerting awareness, she’d been careful the rest of the day to avoid his gaze, to keep the conversation impersonal.

Of course, there was only so much to be said about the assembly of the bookshelves, especially since after a while it had become almost routine. An awkward silence had fallen between them. She’d had no idea how to break it without venturing through the minefield that was apparently his life these days.

It occurred to her that if she couldn’t converse with a man who was spending hours out of his day helping her put together bookshelves, it might not bode well for her ability to come up with small talk with which to engage her customers. That gave her a whole different reason to panic.

She had to stop sitting here pretending to help him when he obviously no longer needed her to read the instructions. She needed to focus on some other task.

Standing up, she announced to some point behind his left ear, “I’m going to start shelving books while you finish up, if that’s okay.”

He didn’t even glance up. “Good idea. I can finish up these last few units by myself.”

Shanna opted to start in the children’s section, which was as far from Kevin as it was possible to get without leaving the store. The shipment of picture books had come in at midmorning, so she started by unpacking those, her eyes lighting up as she studied the colorful artwork in each book before placing it on the shelf.

She was exclaiming over each one until a shadow fell over the pages of the book in her hands. She looked up and saw Kevin grinning at her.

“It’s going to be slow going if you stop to read every book,” he said.

“I’m not,” she protested, then chuckled. “Okay, I am glancing through every one of them. The artists who illustrate these books are amazing.”

“Thus all the excited exclamations,” he guessed. “I was hoping maybe you were back here looking at erotica.”

Shanna blushed furiously. “I’d hardly have it anywhere near the children’s section.”

“Good to know.” He studied her with obvious interest. “What sorts of books are you planning to stock, besides the picture books for kids?”

“I figure people at the beach will want escapism, so mostly bestsellers, mysteries, thrillers, romances, as well as some nonfiction such as cooking, gardening and regional books. If people start asking for things I don’t stock, I’ll special order it for them. I think customer service is going to be critical if the store’s to be successful.”

He hunkered down beside her and glanced at a few of the books spread around her. “Davy’s going to love coming in here,” he said.

“Pick a book and take it home to him,” she encouraged. “I owe you at least that for all your help today.”

“Nope,” he said flatly. “Any books I get from here, I’ll pay for. This is your business and it’s a new one. A few months, a year from now, if you offer me something for free, I’ll accept it graciously.”

“I’ll make a note of that, then. On my first anniversary, you get your pick of any book in the store.”

Kevin nodded. “That’ll work. Now, how about a break? I’m starving again, and we’ve been at this for hours. I’ll come back in the morning and finish up. In the meantime, why don’t we walk to Sally’s or one of the places along Shore Road and grab a bite to eat?”

She glanced at her watch and saw with dismay that it was after seven. “I had no idea how late it was,” she protested. “Shouldn’t you get home to your son?”

“I called and he’s already out like a light. He had a big day with my dad, apparently.”

“He’s really lucky to be surrounded by so much family,” she said, unable to keep a wistful note out of her voice. She couldn’t help thinking about another little boy whose life was nowhere near as idyllic. Because despair lay down that path, she deliberately stood up and went into the back room for her purse. “I’ll have dinner with you on one condition,” she told Kevin. “I’m buying. It’s nonnegotiable.”

“In that case, I should insist on going to Brady’s. It’s the most expensive place in town, next to the inn.”

Shanna’s expression brightened. “I hadn’t even thought of the inn. Let’s go there. I stayed there last year, and the food is fabulous.”

“I don’t think so,” Kevin said flatly.

“If it’s the cost, don’t worry about it. And I think we’re dressed okay. It’s fairly informal.”

“Not the cost or our clothes,” he said. “My youngest sister owns the place.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “Jess, right? I really liked her.” She frowned at his expression. “Why is that a problem?”

“Apparently you don’t have siblings,” he said direly.

“No, but …” Her voice trailed off as understanding dawned. “They meddle!”

“They meddle,” he confirmed. “I’ve already made Bree take a vow of silence about me helping you out today. If we show up at the inn, Jess will try to make something out of it, and the next thing you know Abby will be chiming in with her two cents. She’s the worst of the lot. She’s the oldest, and she stepped in as a surrogate mother hen when our mom and dad divorced. She thinks that gives her the right to an opinion on almost everything related to our lives.”

Kevin sighed dramatically. “The only one not likely to chime in is my brother, Connor, but that’s only because he’s in Baltimore and won’t hear about this for a day or two. He’s in his first year with a big law firm, so he barely has a minute to himself, much less time to listen to the family grapevine.”

Though she understood the problem, Shanna thought it all sounded rather wonderful. As an only child who’d lost both of her parents a few years ago, she’d always longed for a great big family of exactly the kind he was describing. That was one reason, she now believed, that she’d been so eager to marry Greg Hamilton. It had nothing to do with his wealth or his family’s prominence in Philadelphia society. Greg was a single dad with sole custody of his son, and she’d had an instant family. That had overshadowed all of the warning signs that she was making a terrible mistake.