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She barely glances at me as she stares out over the dune at the ocean. "It's amazing. You can see for miles."
I sigh, giving in to the inevitable. "Yes, but right now the show's behind you. Turn around."
She looks at me then, taking in my camp chair facing toward the west. Her gaze moves up to the sky, and her lips fall open in a tiny O.
"Wow," she breathes.
"Told you," I say, my lips twisting into an involuntary smile. Ireallywish this girl didn’t get under my skin so much.
“It’s breathtaking.”
I keep a rack of chairs stacked in a corner. Reluctantly, I rise to get one for her. Settling it next to mine, I gesture for her to sit. “Join me?”
She looks at me with surprise but takes a seat. "Thanks."
Opening the cooler for a beer, I offer her one. She eyes it warily like it may be poison.
I laugh. "You really do have an overactive imagination, don't you?"
How can she make a scowl look sopretty? She accepts the drink, turning her eyes back to the sunset.
We drink in silence, watching the sun dip lower in the sky. As much as I love a pink sky, I can't keep my eyes from flicking to her profile. I've seen a thousand sunsets. But only one Margo Sterling.
Even her name is beautiful.
I stifle a groan as I pry my eyes away from her face. Why couldn't Hildy's heir have been a cranky, old man? Or better yet, someone who was willing to sell to the highest bidder.
Her voice breaks the silence. "I'll need a sunset collection, too."
"What?"
"Sorry, just thinking aloud. I've been planning my window display."
I take another sip of beer to hide my grimace. "The shop is coming together then?"
A smile spreads across her face. "I know you don’t really care, but it's perfect. Everything I've ever wanted and more. Except for the town boycotting me, of course."
It's on the tip of my tongue to tell her the town will come around, because I know it's what she wants to hear. But it wouldn’t be true. Friendly has its quirks. Some good and some bad. But for better or worse, we stand by each other, Friendly versus the world.
She leans back in her chair. "I have a plan for that, though."
I raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Like I'd tell you. You're probably making a list of ways to sabotage me."
"I wouldn't do that. Believe it or not, I'm not a bad guy." I look at her pointedly. "By the way, how's your foot?"
She blushes, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of peach. "Much better, thanks." Then she does what women do best—she changes the subject. "I can't get over how amazing this view is."
"I can't believe you stayed away for so long. No matter how much you despise me, you have to admit the view makes up for it."
I shouldn’t look at her but I do. I can't help myself.
She's staring intently at her beer bottle, picking at the edge of the label with a fingernail. "I don’t despise you."
Then she looks at me, her eyes meeting mine. I search them for…something.Anything.Is there even the tiniest spark of attraction?
"Then why did it take you so long to come up here?"
