Page 11 of Theirs to Treasure

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” he demanded as he reached her.

“What?” That was not the greeting she was expecting.

“It’s the middle of the night, Josie,” he snapped. “Why are you here at the park now, doing your goddamn yoga poses?” he demanded.

“It’s almost five in the morning. Sunrise is ten minutes away. I love this time of the morning. Anyway, what business is it of yours?”

“It isn’t safe,” he glowered as he towered over her.

“For God’s sake, it’s Fate Harbor. No crime happens here,” she scoffed.

She saw his eyes widen as the night sky started to pinken.

“Get a clue, crime happens everywhere. Do you even have some mace?”

“Of course not, I don’t believe in violence.”

“God save me from pacifists,” Sam groaned. “Please, Josie, go home, it’s too damn early for you to be up,” he said in a calmer voice.

Now she was angry.

“Look here, mister, may I point out that you’re up? You’re running around at the butt crack of dawn. Do you have mace? As for it being too early for me to be up, I’ll have you know that I’ve been up since two o’clock in the morning baking. I come here at four-thirty in the morning to start stretching and get in some yoga because I love seeing the sunrise before I open my shop.”

She didn’t mention how desperately she needed the exercise and stretching to help alleviate her back pain that came from the hard work of baking and running the shop. This was one of the few effective alternatives she’d found besides her pain medication.

“That’s all well and good, but you should not be out here on your own at night,” Sam reiterated.

“I wasn’t really asking for your opinion, now was I?” She got up off her knees and once again regretted her short stature because she found herself forced to look up about a foot in order to see his face.

“You’re out of line. You can voice your concerns, but you sure as hell can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. Got it?” She slammed her fists on her hips.

Josie turned to get her things. She so wanted to make a dramatic exit, but couldn’t—she was moving too slow because she never wore her brace or corsets for sleeping or morning yoga.

Dammit!

She bent gingerly to pick up her mat, towel, and bag.

She stood up straight, ignoring Sam’s intent gaze, and started toward the VW bug that she loved so much.

Before she made it two steps, he had deftly and gently pulled the bag off her shoulder and put his arm around her waist so that they were walking in synch toward her small compact car.

“I’m sorry. Josie, I didn’t mean to say you didn’t know what you were doing. I just got a little scared when I realized it was you out here all alone in the dark.”

Josie let his words sink in, let them settle, and when they did, she found herself smiling. Perhaps she had judged him too harshly. Poor thing was probably just suffering from a build-up of testosterone poisoning. She giggled to herself.

“What?”

Josie continued smiling.

“Come on, let me in on the joke.”

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking how it would be nice if I could feed you.”

He stopped them and looked down at her. “Are you asking me out, Ms. Decker?”

“More like I’m asking you in.” she smiled. “You’ve never come by the bakery. Maybe you can come by this morning and I’ll treat you to a cinnamon roll and some coffee.”

He took the towel and the mat out of her hands and placed them on the roof of her car. Then he pulled the car keys out of the side of her bag.