harder than it sounded. Without meaning to, he’d made friends—Miles Harrington, Zane Bishop, and Cooper Haynes chief among them—and they had opened a tiny crack in the wall encircling Leo’s heart.
Serena grinned, although there was a searching light in her black coffee eyes that made him nervous. “Come on, scoundrel. Let’s get back to work. I’m determined to find the very best reading possible for Sanctuary Island’s wedding of the century.”
She curled up in the center of the blanket and immediately became absorbed in stacking her books in some sort of order that made sense only to her. When Leo sat next to her, though, she reached out at once to pull him closer.
Hooking his chin over her shoulder and curving his arms around her waist, Leo breathed in her scent of ink, paper, and book dust. Serena plucked the top book from her stack and started to read aloud, the gentle cadence of her voice washing over him like a song he could only hope would get stuck in his head.
And as they enjoyed the fading warmth of a bright winter’s day and the freshness of a salty ocean breeze, Leo started to fear that the crack his friends had made in his armor was splitting open wider and wider…wide enough for pixie-like Serena Lightfoot and her passion for books to slip through.
Chapter 6
Over the next weeks, Leo spent his days exploring the island with Cooper, discussing the reception plans with Zane, and reassuring Miles and Greta that said reception wouldn’t break any laws of God or man. And he spent his evenings, after the library closed, with Serena.
Not for the first time, he was glad he’d insisted on staying on at the Fireside Inn even when Cooper and Zane had succumbed to Greta’s request that they move their things to the Harrington family home on Sanctuary Island.
After that first day up on Honeysuckle Ridge, Leo was determined to keep this affair dabbling happily in shallow waters. Leave the deep stuff to his friends; let them lose Miles’s bet along with their hearts and their freedom. Leo had a good thing going with Serena, the perfect woman, who asked nothing of Leo except his desire.
Desire was something he could give her, freely and without hesitation. In fact, he was honest enough with himself to admit that he couldn’t stop it now if he wanted to. His desire for Serena was almost a physical need. It was difficult to wait through the long hours of her work day at the library for the moment when she would emerge from the brick building and lock the heavy door behind her.
Leo made sure he was waiting at the foot of the library’s front steps for her every day, with a smile and a kiss that communicated the hunger he’d stored up over their hours apart. And he was equally sure to resist her invitations back to her small cottage overlooking the beach.
Even though it meant a long, cold ferry ride back to Winter Harbor on the mainland, Leo preferred to conduct their liaisons at the picturesque Fireside Inn. Not only because it was shockingly romantic, with its comfortably appointed rooms and friendly, yet polished service, but because he had the sense that going to Serena’s house would be too intimate. More like a real relationship—and that was a step he couldn’t allow himself to take.
Besides, he reasoned as he stretched his long legs out toward the grate, Serena’s beach cottage probably didn’t have a rollicking huge fireplace like the one that dominated the Fireside Inn’s main sitting room.
“Sitting here makes me glad the weather finally started turning wintry,” Serena murmured drowsily, smudging the words against his shoulder as he cuddled her closer to his side. “A little chill in the air makes a roaring fire feel so good.”
Pressing his lips to the golden curls crowning Serena’s head, Leo darted a glance at the darkened front hallway. The innkeeper had gone up to bed an hour ago, dimming the lights with a knowing smile and silently leaving her guests to enjoy each other
Serena grinned, although there was a searching light in her black coffee eyes that made him nervous. “Come on, scoundrel. Let’s get back to work. I’m determined to find the very best reading possible for Sanctuary Island’s wedding of the century.”
She curled up in the center of the blanket and immediately became absorbed in stacking her books in some sort of order that made sense only to her. When Leo sat next to her, though, she reached out at once to pull him closer.
Hooking his chin over her shoulder and curving his arms around her waist, Leo breathed in her scent of ink, paper, and book dust. Serena plucked the top book from her stack and started to read aloud, the gentle cadence of her voice washing over him like a song he could only hope would get stuck in his head.
And as they enjoyed the fading warmth of a bright winter’s day and the freshness of a salty ocean breeze, Leo started to fear that the crack his friends had made in his armor was splitting open wider and wider…wide enough for pixie-like Serena Lightfoot and her passion for books to slip through.
Chapter 6
Over the next weeks, Leo spent his days exploring the island with Cooper, discussing the reception plans with Zane, and reassuring Miles and Greta that said reception wouldn’t break any laws of God or man. And he spent his evenings, after the library closed, with Serena.
Not for the first time, he was glad he’d insisted on staying on at the Fireside Inn even when Cooper and Zane had succumbed to Greta’s request that they move their things to the Harrington family home on Sanctuary Island.
After that first day up on Honeysuckle Ridge, Leo was determined to keep this affair dabbling happily in shallow waters. Leave the deep stuff to his friends; let them lose Miles’s bet along with their hearts and their freedom. Leo had a good thing going with Serena, the perfect woman, who asked nothing of Leo except his desire.
Desire was something he could give her, freely and without hesitation. In fact, he was honest enough with himself to admit that he couldn’t stop it now if he wanted to. His desire for Serena was almost a physical need. It was difficult to wait through the long hours of her work day at the library for the moment when she would emerge from the brick building and lock the heavy door behind her.
Leo made sure he was waiting at the foot of the library’s front steps for her every day, with a smile and a kiss that communicated the hunger he’d stored up over their hours apart. And he was equally sure to resist her invitations back to her small cottage overlooking the beach.
Even though it meant a long, cold ferry ride back to Winter Harbor on the mainland, Leo preferred to conduct their liaisons at the picturesque Fireside Inn. Not only because it was shockingly romantic, with its comfortably appointed rooms and friendly, yet polished service, but because he had the sense that going to Serena’s house would be too intimate. More like a real relationship—and that was a step he couldn’t allow himself to take.
Besides, he reasoned as he stretched his long legs out toward the grate, Serena’s beach cottage probably didn’t have a rollicking huge fireplace like the one that dominated the Fireside Inn’s main sitting room.
“Sitting here makes me glad the weather finally started turning wintry,” Serena murmured drowsily, smudging the words against his shoulder as he cuddled her closer to his side. “A little chill in the air makes a roaring fire feel so good.”
Pressing his lips to the golden curls crowning Serena’s head, Leo darted a glance at the darkened front hallway. The innkeeper had gone up to bed an hour ago, dimming the lights with a knowing smile and silently leaving her guests to enjoy each other
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