for Ian and were just as disliked around town. She said the exceptions were his daughter Rebecca and his second youngest son Jack. They took after their mother, Rosalie, who’d been well liked until she became more and more reclusive. Jamie, the youngest Devlin, was a late baby and it was too soon to tell which way he’d go.
As for Jack, Iris had nothing but good to say. But she’d warned me that he was the town player and only “dated” tourists.
He wasn’t for me.
Even if I wasn’t a shy, bumbling twenty-year-old with trust issues.
“Yes, thank you,” I replied to his question, studying his strong profile.
He turned to me and I blushed harder for being caught staring at him.
Jack’s lips quirked into that mischievous smirk. “How are you liking Hartwell?”
Small talk.
I was awful at small talk.
I nodded. “I like it.”
This made Jack grin. And just like that, it knocked the breath out of me.
Oh boy.
He had the best smile I’d ever seen. It gave him these sexy crinkles at the corner of his eyes. It was a boyishly naughty smile, the smile of someone up to no good and at complete odds with the kindness in his eyes. The overall effect was detrimental to my heart.
A person could melt a marshmallow on my cheeks.
His eyes actually twinkled. “We’re glad to have you here, Emery.”
The sound of his deep voice saying my name caused another swooping sensation in my belly. I exhaled and stammered as I turned to point at the price board behind me. “C-coffee?”
At his silence, I glanced back at him.
He was looking at the silver bangles on my wrist.
Strange.
His eyes flew to my face and his voice sounded rougher when he replied, “Americano.”
Grateful to have something to do, I turned from him and made his coffee. Neither of us spoke again.
When he handed over cash, I touched the five-dollar bill by the tip of it so our fingers wouldn’t brush. I slid his change across the counter.
“Thanks.”
I forced myself to meet his gaze again. “You’re welcome.”
“See you around.”
I nodded.
Jack tipped the to-go cup toward me and turned to stride out of the store. I held my breath the entire time. The bell tinkled above the door and then he was gone.
I let out air like a deflating balloon and sagged against my counter.
Typical me, I thought. I would have to develop a crush on the one guy I shouldn’t want.
3
Jack
Hartwell
Seven years ago
Waking up to a phone call from Ian was not Jack’s favorite thing in the world. He answered it because he knew Ian would just keep calling until he did. He answered it even knowing what the call would be about. Every two months or so, Ian liked to call and berate Jack for not coming into the family business. Jack didn’t know what Ian hoped to accomplish with these phone calls other than to irritate his son.
There was a cure to Jack’s current mood, however, and it was on the boardwalk.
Sure, Emery’s coffee was the best in town and he’d taken to going every morning, Monday to Friday, before work to grab himself a coffee. On the mornings he and Cooper ran on the beach, they’d go to Emery’s together and the buffer of Cooper was much appreciated.
Cooper found Emery’s shyness awkward as fuck. If it weren’t for her coffee, he’d probably avoid the place.
Not Jack.
Jack thought every blush, every stutter, was so adorable, he couldn’t stand it. There was something mysteriously feminine about Emery Saunders. He wanted to know all her secrets. He wanted to make her laugh, to know what it sounded like.
And he wanted to be the one to discover if she blushed all over.
In the two years Emery had lived in Hartwell, no one had learned much about her. The people of Hartwell understood that she was painfully shy, so it wasn’t like they disliked her. It was just that they would always consider her an outsider while she didn’t participate in town events and befriend folks.
It annoyed Jack. Someone should make more of an effort. He’d talked with Bailey Hartwell about it, and she’d tried to approach Emery, but it had backfired. Bailey’s lack of filter had led her and Jack to deduce that she was a little too intimidating for Emery.
Someone more reserved needed to approach the shy newcomer. He’d asked Cat, Cooper’s sister. Although she was as blunt as Bailey, she didn’t have Bailey’s overwhelming energy or reputation as the town princess.