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Men weren’t good for her. Relationships didn’t work for her. They hadn’t been in the past and they wouldn’t be part of her future any time soon. She’d decided that the moment she’d chosen to start her business. The bookstore would come first no matter what.
No relationships.
No kids.
Nothing but her business. It was her passion.
Except that kiss was pretty passionate when it came to a sliding scale. Just thinking about it made her whole body heat up like it was the middle of summer. She flushed despite being completely alone.
Megan shouldn’t have closed the shop for the day, she knew that the moment she hung the sign on the front door. But she couldn’t bring herself to be at the shop with Daniel being right across the street. Heck, yesterday she had even waited to go home until after midnight just so she wouldn’t have any chance of running into him.
As her heels clipped along the sidewalk leading to another location of the same bookstore company she was franchising, she told herself this was okay. One day of sales wasn’t going to hurt her. She was doing research and she would be able to make up the money in other ways. She hadn’t been hurting since she opened, so there was no reason to fret.
However, her brain refused to accept the excuses and there was a quadrant dedicated to running scenarios where everything would go wrong all because of one kiss.
One stupid kiss!
She was an idiot.
Time to get her head on straight again and reconnect with the real reason she was in Rocky Ridge. She was going to make it on her own without her parents. She was going to make something of herself.
But first, she needed coffee. And she wouldn’t mind someone else making it for her this time. Megan pulled open the door and stepped into a bookstore that was very similar to her own and once again the guilt accosted her.
“One day isn’t going to make a difference.” She tried to reassure herself. “It’s just one day until I get everything under control.”
A few patrons of this bookstore gave her strange looks. Probably because she was talking to herself. If they knew the reason she was doing that, those looks would be ten times worse. She smiled at them and they looked away. At least they knew when not to keep staring.
One cup of coffee. Maybe a few minutes just perusing the shelves for display ideas, then she’d be on her way.
Megan got herself a cup of her favorite blend and then headed down the first aisle. She let her free hand glide against the cool, glossy spines and let out a sigh. She could still remember the first time she’d been in a bookstore like this one. She’d fallen in love with it just like her cousin had. There was just something soothing about being surrounded by all these books and those who enjoyed them.
Aisle after aisle, she lost track of time. Finally, she found herself in front of the biggest reason Daniel and she would never work. The shelves of coffee and tea that not only this store sold, but also served. The same brands and flavors that she stocked at her bookstore.
She tilted her head, letting her eyes sweep from one side to the other, top to bottom. Studying it like it was a work of art, she contemplated why it had become a sore spot with her. Something so simple had made such a difference between two people. She’d considered dropping the café side of things more than a few times within the last twenty-four hours. But a decision like that wouldn’t benefit her. It would have solely been for Daniel.
And she’d already had to remind herself several times that she couldn’t let a man get between her and her dream.
Megan sighed and spun around to get away from the thoughts that plagued her only to collide with someone tall. The coffee sloshed in her cup, but only a few drops sputtered from the small hole in the top.
She gasped, murmuring, “I’m so sorry,” before she lifted her gaze, and then her heart stopped. It didn’t just trip over itself, it did a full stop, nearly knocking her to her knees. She couldn’t breathe, no matter how desperately she wanted to drag much needed oxygen into her lungs. “Daniel,” she whispered.
At first, she’d only felt mildly sick to her stomach, mostly due to the guilt she felt over taking the day off, for losing sight of what was important, and kissing Daniel.
Now, the butterflies were wreaking havoc with the small semblance of peace she’d managed to find while wandering this store that was not her own and subsequently hours away from their home.
Megan swallowed hard, taking a small step back to force additional distance between the two of them. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes didn’t leave hers. In fact, they drilled into her like he knew she was trying to avoid him.
“Are you following me?” she accused.
One side of his face scrunched up a little and he looked away—toward the tower of coffee that she’d just been studying. “No, I didn’t follow you,” he said somewhat bitterly. “I came here to see what this place is all about.” His gaze dipped to her again. He stood there more nonchalant than he had any right to be. How could he be so calm and collected?
He probably wasn’t even affected by their kiss last night. She fumed with jealousy at the thought. How many girls had he kissed like that? She took another step back as if that would be enough to gather her wits.
She was wrong.
“What areyoudoing here? Don’t you have a store to run?” Daniel’s voice shifted slightly. This time italmostsounded like he was teasing her.
