Mia Ross - Seaside Romance

“Yeah, me, too.” He winked at Lauren as she returned his card. “You know how girls are. They say they want one thing when they really want something else.”

She knew he was joking, but the comment struck her the wrong way, and she glared up at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her scolding had no effect on him whatsoever, and he gave her a maddening grin. “My mistake.”

The other line rang, and Lauren picked up the handset. “Toyland, this is Lauren. May I help you?” After a moment, she said, “Okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Still on hold, Julia gave her a questioning look.

“The sandwich and cookie trays you ordered for the Easter egg coloring party are ready at the bakery. They’re taking up a lot of space in the cooler, so they’d like us to get them ASAP.”

“Oh, no! I forgot all about them. The first set of kids and their parents will be here in half an hour.” Julia cast a pleading look at Ben. “The platters aren’t heavy, but there’s three of them, and they’re huge. Could you possibly help us out?”

Us? Considering the inexplicable reaction she’d had to him earlier, Lauren knew she shouldn’t spend any more time with the friendly contractor than absolutely necessary. “I can manage, Julia. It’s not that far, so I’ll just make an extra trip.”

“No need for that,” he assured her with a you-can-count-on-me grin. “I’m always glad to lend a pretty lady a hand.”

His open admiration of her was both flattering and terrifying, and Lauren swallowed hard to get control of both emotions before she blurted out something inappropriate. “All right, thanks.”

Lame but safe, she decided as they headed for the door. Outside on the sidewalk, he paused between the two large display windows she’d rearranged that morning. “Very nice,” he approved with a nod. “If I was a kid, they’d make me want to go inside and see what else is in there.”

“That was the idea.”

Clearly surprised, he turned to look at her. “Wait, you did this?”

“The Stantons are in London,” she explained, “and they called early this morning to talk to Julia about the wedding. She likes to redo the windows every Monday but wasn’t going to have time. Since she was busy, I thought I’d take a shot at decorating.”

“Great job.”

His unexpected praise settled nicely over Lauren’s badly bruised ego, and she took a minute to admire her handiwork. One window held all manner of Easter things: baskets, stuffed animals and a sampling of the unique toys the shop kept in stock. The other window framed a miniature version of Holiday Harbor, complete with early nineteenth-century buildings and gardens. In the model town square, tiny children held even tinier baskets filled with packing pellets that resembled eggs.

Even in still life, it was so charming, Lauren easily understood why Julia had chosen to settle here. Maybe someday, she thought wistfully, she’d find a place like this where she could restart her life.

“You okay?” Ben asked, hauling her back to reality.

“Sure.” To prove it, she met his concerned gaze with a steady one of her own. With his solid frame and weathered appearance, he made her think of a tree sturdy enough to weather a good old-fashioned hurricane. Pushing the fanciful impression aside, she asked, “Why?”

“You sighed.” As if he’d just caught on, he gave her a wry grin. “You want to handle this errand yourself, don’t you? So Julia will know you can manage running the shop while she’s gone?”

That wasn’t quite it, but she’d just met him and confessing that he made her irrationally nervous didn’t seem like the right way to go. “No, it’s fine. Really,” she added with a smile to smooth out the creases in his forehead.

“If you’re sure.” When she nodded, he motioned her ahead of him. “Then ladies first.”

More than once, he’d referred to her as a lady. Not only that, she mused as she started walking, he actually made her feel like one. She couldn’t recall the last time someone had done that for her, and despite her lingering misgivings, she had to admit she liked it.

* * *

Lauren Foster was like a Thoroughbred, Ben quickly realized. Beautiful to look at but skittish as anything.

Dressed in conservative gray trousers and a navy blouse, she appeared to be ready for work in an office somewhere. When she turned her head to look across the street, he noticed the way her ponytail caught the sunlight in a cascade of honey-gold curls. It was an intriguing contradiction to the all-business outfit, more suited to a picnic than a job indoors.

Women usually took to him right away, so her standoffish manner baffled him. Then again, he amended as they strolled along, maybe it wasn’t him. The idea that someone in her past had done something to make her so timid riled his protective nature, and he had to remind himself it was none of his business. She was Julia’s friend, nothing more. Still, he wouldn’t mind getting to know her better, figure out what was going on behind those amazing blue eyes.

“Isn’t that the church in Julia’s model village?” Lauren asked, pointing to the old-fashioned white chapel tucked into the town square.

“The Safe Harbor Church. Pastor McHenry is Julia’s future father-in-law, and he’ll be doing the ceremony.”

“I couldn’t believe it when she told me Nick’s the son of a preacher. I’ve read his Kaleidoscope magazine online, and in his picture he looks more like the dark, dangerous type.”

“Oh, he is,” Ben assured her with a laugh. “Except with Julia. She doesn’t let him brood too much, which is why she’s perfect for him.”

“That’s nice.”

Ben sensed she was less than impressed by his buddy’s religious background, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to nudge her a little. “Our pastor’s really great, and not intimidating at all. If you wanted to come to Sunday service with Julia, we’d be glad to have you.”

Lauren gave him a suspicious once-over. “You go to church?”

“I met Nick in Sunday school.” Recalling the early days of their friendship made him grin. They were both twenty-eight now, and they still rarely agreed on anything. “When we were kids, we got in a fight over the best way to build the walls of Jericho.”

“Weren’t those the ones that came down?” she teased.

That he’d finally gotten this very somber woman to lighten up a little made Ben feel like he’d scored a touchdown. “To be fair, God had a hand in that. It wasn’t the masons’ fault.”

“I guess.” Her brief moment of humor evaporated into a frown. “I appreciate the invitation, but religion’s really not my thing. We used to go when I was a kid, but now I’m more the sleep-till-noon-go-have-brunch kind of girl.”

Ben suspected she could use some of the warmth he always found in the old chapel, but he’d learned long ago that it’s impossible to convince someone of something they don’t half believe already. You could try, but in the end, you were just wasting your breath.

“That’s fine,” he said as he pulled open the door to the bakery. “If you change your mind, you know how to get there.”

Once inside, Lauren paused and took a deep breath. “Mmm...something smells delicious. What is it?”

“Carolina’s snickerdoodles, runner-up at the state fair last summer.”

“Carolina? Are they named for the state, or is that someone’s name?”

“Carolina and her sister Georgia are from Alabama, but they’ve been here ever since I can remember.” Affectionately known around town as the Bakery Sisters, they were two of Holiday Harbor’s favorite residents. “They came up for a vacation with their husbands and never left. Kinda like Julia.”