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“Yeah. Can’t quite help it,” Dane said, looking up. As always, Michael was dressed casually in a way that oozed cool and casual, even though the weather was cold. “The paper is always being written or edited or printed, so there’s always something on my plate.”
“Very true. Must be fast paced.” Michael pulled out the chair across from Dane and sat with his coffee. Instead of a to-go cup, he had his in a huge ceramic mug with the Tidal Wave Coffee logo on it. “But it’s a great paper even with the fast turnaround times. I loved the article on the surf competition.”
“Congrats on the win, by the way,” Dane said.
“Thank you.” Michael smiled. “I talked to a lot of my surf buddies and they really loved it. They said the writing was great and captured things about the surfing world that they hadn’t even thought of. That’s a big feat considering how into the sport some of them are.”
Pride radiated through his chest. “That’s great. Alissa’s great at capturing the nuances of situations like that. She’s got an eye for it.”
“I hope she sticks around,” Michael said, watching Dane over the rim of his coffee as he took a sip.
Michael’s look was anything but subtle—it was a mild warning. Did everyone know that he and Alissa had gone on a date? He didn’t doubt that at all. News traveled quickly and they had gone to The Crab, which was one of the town’s social hubs. If Willis and Hannah talked to other business owners in town, it was only a matter of time before Michael found out.
Dane wasn’t surprised at how protective Michael seemed to be either. Alissa’s enthusiasm won over almost everyone she met, even the grumpiest like him.
“I do too,” Dane said. “I really like her and want her to stay.”
Tension fell from Michael’s shoulders. “Good.”
“And I think she will. We’re working on an idea for a magazine—longer form content about the area, finding stories that need more research, things like that.” Dane sipped his drink. “Alissa has a lot of ideas for it and she’s really excited to get started. That’s a big part of my to-do list today. We want to get the plan down for the kinds of articles we want to publish, then see about how to actually pull it off.”
“That’s a fantastic idea,” Michael said. “You should go for it.”
“I agree!” the barista said from across the patio as she gathered up some mugs left on the bus station.
The three of them laughed. Dane was reasonably confident in his ideas, but hearing from locals, including one who was very influential, made him even more so. The small town community that he had chafed against when he first arrived was now a warm comfort. He hadn’t expected that, but he appreciated it nonetheless.
* * *
Alissa sighed, digging through her desk drawers for her emergency stash of peanut M&Ms. She’d had to replace them after hanging out with Dane in the office after hours. They had sat next to each other, eating the candy and talking through ideas. She had gotten so animated that she nearly knocked over her can of seltzer all over her keyboard.
Looking at the candy now reminded her of Dane, making her heart flutter. Whenever he crossed her thoughts, her attention drifted away from whatever she was doing. She was falling for him, hard. Had she ever met a man who challenged her and kept her on her toes, but in the best way? Or a man who was so handsome that looking at him filled her with butterflies every time? She wanted to throw her arms around him in a big hug and take in the scent of his cologne. She wanted to thread her fingers in his and walk along the beach, talking. She wanted more dinners at The Crab, splitting dessert and staying there until it closed.
Alissa snorted, throwing back some M&Ms and chewing. She seriously had it bad.
She looked back at her computer, trying to focus on the article she was supposed to be working on. But she had her personal email pulled up too and her eyes drifted to that. She had edited her manuscript and sent it off to her professor a little while ago. Now all she had to do was wait to hear back from her regarding whether any publishing companies were interested.
That was much easier said than done. Nervous, excited thoughts of possibly finding a publisher rushed through her head in the spare moments when she wasn’t thinking about Dane or the magazine they wanted to start. Seeing her name in print atEpicand now atThe Outletwas great, but having something so solid and so permanent like a book with her name on it was still a dream of hers. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what it would feel like holding it in her hands. That was so far away, but thinking of it boosted her mood. Truth be told, it boosted her impatience too.
Alissa crossed her fingers and toes, hoping that when she refreshed the page, an email would be there. But there wasn’t one.
She sighed and got back to work, slowly making her way through her article. Even though she was excited by it, her thoughts kept drifting to Dane yet again. She heard him talking on the phone, his deep voice low and confident. When she got up to go to the bathroom, she passed by his office. He gave her a small smile as she passed that made her heart somersault in her chest.
She came back to her desk right as her phone started to ring. She wasn’t expecting a call from anyone, so she answered with a question in her voice.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Alissa! Sorry to call from my office phone, but my cell phone is across my office,” Alissa’s professor, Dr. Cane, said.
“Oh! Dr. Cane!” Alissa plopped down into her seat. “It’s nice to hear from you.”
“I have some great news,” Dr. Cane said. “I received an answer from one of the small publishers I spoke to, Seashore Press. They love your book and think it’ll be a perfect fit for their catalog.”
“What?” Alissa’s knees went weak even though she was sitting down.
“They want to work with you!” Dr. Cane said. “Congrats!”
“Oh my goodness.” Alissa pressed her hand to her forehead. “I’m so… I don’t even know how to put this into words. I’m so excited. So grateful. I’m so glad I was sitting down!”
