Jessa shook her head. “Megan and I work remotely, so we like to travel around to different places. So it’s kind of a working vacation?”
“That sounds ideal,” Noah said, despite him wanting to show her how amazing Wintervale was so she wouldn’t want to leave.
He glanced at Megan, who had stayed silent the entire conversation. She winked at him before glancing down the strip of tents.
“Oh look! A book tent! I need a new book. I just finished mine.”
Jessa raised an eyebrow. “You never read books.”
“I think this is the perfect time to start.” Megan waved and grabbed her coffee before rushing away. “Bye!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Noah bit his lip to keep from laughing at the startled look on Jessa’s face.
“That little…” Jessa whispered. She peeked up at Noah and blushed before looking back at her drink and taking a long sip.
Noah leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table to lower down to her eye level, where she was trying her hardest not to look at him.
“Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
Jessa looked up with her eyes wide. “What?”
He cracked a smile. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
“Even after I hit you on the mountain?” She widened her eyes to make it known she was speaking about hitting him in the crotch.
He chuckled. “Yes.”
“I thought for sure things were awkward between us.”
“And I thought I made it clear things weren’t, by enjoying your company at the bar last night.” He raised a meaningful eyebrow.
She blushed and ducked her head. “I thought you were just being nice.”
“And now?”
She smiled timidly and studied him. “Okay. I’ll go out with you.”
He couldn’t help the beaming smile that spread across his face. There was no being smooth about this. He was excited.
“Great.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Um. When?”
Noah shook his head and chuckled. He hadn’t planned that far ahead. “Oh, uh… are you free tonight?”
She glanced over his shoulder toward where Megan had gone. “Yeah. I think so.”
They exchanged numbers, and then he walked with her toward the library tent. Jackson was now gone and Megan was chatting with Mia while looking over the books.
“Hey, Noah,” Mia said when they approached.
“Hey, Mia. How are things going?”
“Really well. Just a bit cold out here. Jackson brought me a blanket and hot coffee.”
Noah smiled. “That was nice of him.”
She blushed. “It was.”
Noah always wondered if Mia realized her feelings for Jackson and just didn’t express them. Perhaps she wasn’t as in the dark about it as he thought.
“Ready to go?” Jessa asked Megan.
“Yep. Just buying this book here… since you know, I read a lot,” Megan said, grabbing a random book off the shelf and handing it to Mia.
Jessa rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything, and watched as Megan purchased the book.
“This one is fantastic,” Mia said as she put the book in a bag. “Lillian Ryan is one of my favorite romance authors. You’ll really enjoy it.”
Once they walked out of the tent, Noah said “goodbye” to all of them and split ways in the parking lot. He had a date to get ready for.
