Sandcastle Beach (Matchmaker Bay #3) - Jenny Holiday Page 0,30

of something woodsy. He leaned over her. She smelled like cedar but also like…sugar?

No. He sniffed again. Vanilla? Whatever it was, it was a more subtle note than the wood. This was harder than the wine-tasting courses he’d taken when he’d started to get serious about the wine list at the bar.

Her eyes slipped open. Shit. Busted. His hand with a mind of its own was still floating a few inches from her head, and his face was right in there, too. He braced himself for the flaying that was coming, but she surprised him by smiling. He had often watched her smile at other people and thought about how he’d never gotten one of his own. But here it was. It was different from the smile she gave other people, though, the one he’d thought he wanted. Those smiles were big and blinding. This was soft. Warm and sleepy. Sexy. Like waking up next to him was something she did on the regular—like being happy to wake up next to him was something she did on the regular.

He was frozen. He ordered himself to retract his ridiculous floating hand, at least, and just as he was about to, she tilted her head so it nestled in his palm, like a cat in search of a caress. Her hair was soft. It was—

Oh shit. She was kissing him. She was kissing him.

Well, sort of. It was more like she was touching her lips against his. There was barely any pressure at all, but it was such a goddamn jolt. It felt like his entire body had been plunged into the lake with no warning. It was—

Over.

“Oh my God!” She lurched away from him, doing a sort of roll under his still-hovering palm. “I…I thought you were someone else!”

She’d thought he was someone else? She definitely had a Tinder-swiping habit, but damn, if she was actually hooking up with someone, she was being masterfully secretive about it. Who else was she waking up with? Who else was getting those intimate, sexy smiles?

But maybe the more relevant question was, What was he supposed to do now? How to explain why he’d been hovering over her like a creeper? Hi, I was about to wake you up and I got distracted smelling you?

Her phone rang, startling them both. Saved by the bell.

She frowned at it before answering. He wondered who was calling her at eleven on a weeknight. But he wondered from afar—he took himself and his nose and his sentient hand as far away as possible, getting up and taking their empty glasses into the kitchen and trying to shake off that intimate, charged moment.

“Hello?” Judging by Maya’s wary tone as she answered the phone, she didn’t know who was calling her at eleven on a weeknight, either. But then pure elation: “Oh my gosh, hi! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you! No, I wasn’t asleep!” Then some silence followed by, “Are you kidding me? Of course the offer still stands! I’m thrilled!”

He had never heard her use so many exclamation points in a row. Was it the boy-band douchebag? It must be. Who else would make her so happy?

Law made a mental note to check out this World War I movie Band Boy was supposedly so good in. He’d heard people talking about it since word had gotten out that Holden had been in town to attend a play.

She laughed uproariously at something Holden said.

I thought you were someone else.

But no. Maya had only met Band Boy that one time, when he’d come to her murder mystery play.

As far as Law knew. Which…wasn’t maybe that far. He got up and went back into the living room, hovering in the archway that divided it from the dining room.

“But Much Ado about Nothing can definitely be serious,” she was saying. “I’m planning to make an analogy between the accusation of Hero and modern-day social media bullying with my staging.” She was silent for a while, listening. “No, not a hero. Hero is the name of one of the female leads in Much Ado.” She rolled her eyes, and Law smirked. It sounded like Band Boy didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. “Definitely! Have your manager send me your numbers, and I’ll see what I can do.” After some more silence, she started murmuring sympathetically. “That I can definitely help with. Of course it’s included!” She nodded as she listened, and when she spoke again, her voice had taken on