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“Rosie, too,” I added.
Because I worked a lot, I wasn’t the most social person, but I did get together with them on occasion. They were kind of a trio, or had been in high school. I’d gradually been getting more friendly with them since we’d all ended up back in town.
“Let’s meet at the winery. I think it’s locals’ night. Right?” Tessa called over to Blake, who was just stepping to the side after paying for his order.
“Right what?” he prompted as he and Fiona stopped beside us.
“It’s locals’ night tonight, the weekly tasting,” Tessa prompted.
“Sure is,” he replied.
“Great. We’ll be there. Are you guys going?” Tessa called over to Adam and Kenan.
I resisted the urge to groan. It would be really weird if I tried to say we shouldn’t go to locals’ night at the winery. I’d gone to the weekly tastings with Kenan countless times.
His eyes landed on mine as Adam replied, “Of course.”
I was beyond relieved when Hazel handed over my muffin and coffee. “I need to get going. I’ve got a few calls to make and some paperwork to take care of early.”
“Meet you there tonight,” Tessa said as I hurried away.
I practically ran out of the café, relieved for the cold air. I almost unzipped my coat. That’s how hot I was inside.
ChapterFourteen
QUINN
A few minutes later, I walked into my office at Fireweed Industries. My office was at the end of the hall upstairs, tucked into a quiet corner. I closed the door firmly. After I stripped out of my coat and tossed it on the back of my chair, I sat down at my desk. My hands shook with nerves. I leaned back in my chair and let out a shaky sigh.
“What the hell am I going to do?” I whispered.
I spun in my chair to look outside. All of the offices had windows facing downtown Fireweed Harbor. The sun rose higher in the sky, and the pink from the sunrise faded to a subtle wash with the orange softening to peach.
I took a slow breath and lifted my coffee off my desk to take a healthy swallow.
“Oh hell,” I whispered as I lowered the cup.
I would have to tell Kenan this thing with us had to stop. Because it was crazy. I didn’t fancy myself falling for him, but I feared I could, and I really didn’t want to screw up our friendship.
Just when I thought I had escaped my dosage of awkward for the day, I heard a light knock on my office door. Not many people showed up here this early, so my guess was it was Rhys.
“Yes?” I called.
I collected my composure, gathering the tattered ends and bracing myself for whoever walked in. When Kenan peered around the edge of the door, my stomach swooped. “Oh!”
“Mind if I come in?” he asked as he opened the door wider.
It wasn’t as if I hadn’t known Kenan was handsome before. I took the moment to study him as I nodded. He was tall with broad shoulders. His hair was still damp from what I presumed was a recent shower. His blue eyes were bright.
He closed the door behind him. It wasn’t as if he never stopped by my office early in the morning. On occasion, he did because we were friends. Good friends. I tried to ignore the sneaky uncertainty unspooling inside me.
He sat down across from my desk like he usually would. He took a swallow of his coffee while I tried to order my hormones to calm the fuck down. They were ignoring me. My pulse rioted, butterflies tickled the inside of my belly, my breath was short, and heat shimmered through me.
“Good morning,” I said, my voice sounding bright and kind of weirdly cheerful to my ears.
“Good morning.” His voice was a little low and raspy, and my belly flipped again and again.
We sat in silence for a moment, and I tucked my hands under my thighs because they were shaking again.
