a feeling Olivia Harper was the sort of woman who could make a man spill every secret he ever had.
OLIVIA
Heaven.
Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, eyes closed, relishing the wonder of being in his arms. This didn’t seem real. Was she really here, in the soft perfection of a Northern California spring evening, kissing Cooper Vance?
Oh, her younger self would be freaking out right now. Back then, she had been kind of obsessed with Cooper and had written page after page in her diary, fantasizing about exactly this. Kissing Cooper Vance.
Her crush on him had been huge and overwhelming. She used to write his name in her diary, linked to hers with hearts and swirls and flourishes.
Cooper had been everything she wanted in a guy back then. Older, a little bit dangerous, already determined to become a firefighter. He had been a loving and protective older brother. He didn’t go overboard but he made sure Melody knew he would do everything possible to take care of her. And he always had been kind to Olivia, though she knew he considered her only his sister’s pesky friend and Natalie’s younger sister.
He had tried to save her father, had run in after Steve and dragged him out into the night. Though it had been clear to everyone that Steve wouldn’t make it, Cooper refused to stop CPR even after other first responders arrived.
How could she help but fall a little in love with him after that?
Her younger self would have been over the moon to know she would one day be here in his arms, with heat simmering between them and his mouth firm and determined on hers.
No.
She couldn’t do this. What would ever come of it? Nothing but trouble.
Olivia wasn’t in a good place for a fling, emotionally or mentally. She was a mess, completely overwhelmed with caring for Juliet and the garden center and her own business.
The last thing she needed right now was to become tangled up with a man who would end up breaking her heart.
With great effort, she slid her mouth away and stood up abruptly from the bench, breathing hard and trying to gather her wildly careening thoughts.
What had she been thinking? Anyone could have seen them here. Her mom. Caitlin. A passing car.
She let out a shaky breath, not sure what to say or how to act.
“I should...go.” She gestured weakly toward Sea Glass Cottage, which she could see at the top of the hill. “I have to open the garden center early in the morning.”
He looked as if he wanted to say something but appeared to change his mind at the last minute. “All right,” he said, his voice low and a bit raspy. Then he rose and started walking in the direction of her mother’s house.
“The house is only a hundred yards away. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to walk me the rest of the way.”
“I don’t mind,” he answered, without breaking stride.
What if she minded? Now that she was no longer in his arms, now that all her doubts and insecurities came crashing back, she felt extremely awkward, as if she were still that teenage girl with a terrible crush on him.
She didn’t know how to get out of the situation gracefully, so she continued walking toward home.
Streetlamps and moonlight illuminated the path, and the air was sweet with the scent of flowers and the cypress and pine that grew in abundance along the coast.
They walked in silence, not touching but their shoulders brushing every once in a while. She was intensely aware of him, big and gorgeous and completely out of her league.
Had he really kissed her? If she couldn’t still taste his mouth against hers, she might have thought she had imagined the whole thing.
She couldn’t let this awkwardness grow or she wouldn’t be able to face him again. While she might have preferred that option, she couldn’t avoid him in a small town like Cape Sanctuary. His sister was her best friend. Not only that, but she had just agreed to help him promote an upcoming event. They would have to clear the air.
“Look,” she began, “that kiss was amazing. I’m not going to lie.”
“Um. Thanks?”
She sighed. “I wish I were in a better place to...to start something with you while I’m in town, but I’m not. I’m sorry. I’ve got way too much on my plate. I’m trying to work long-distance and run my business from here, which has been a nightmare, as well as manage