He’d never looked closely at her in high school—he’d been blind to anyone outside his inner circle—but damn, she was pretty. A lot prettier than a whack-job loner ought to be. Maybe she hadn’t been that pretty in high school. More likely, he’d been too much of a jerk to notice.
He noticed now. Her skin was pale, and it looked as soft as freshly fallen snow. Her golden-brown lashes were astonishingly long. Her lips were a dusky pink. There was naturalness about her, something clean and fresh, and a spark of determination in her wide hazel eyes. If he had to describe her now, sad and gloomy would not be the words he chose.
Wistful, maybe. Apprehensive, yet curious.
And damn, really, really pretty.
“So…you still live here?” he asked.
It didn’t seem like a difficult question, but she took a minute to mull over her answer. Finally, she said, “I recently moved back.”
“Yeah. Me, too—well, not exactly. I’m in Boston.” He tilted his head slightly in the city’s direction, as if Boston were one town over and not thirty miles south of Brogan’s Point. “I don’t know if you remember Ashley Wright from our class—” he tilted his head again, this time toward the booth where Ashley waited for him, visibly seething because he’d abandoned her to talk to Maeve “—but she’s living right here in town. Working for her dad.”
“He owns that car place on Route One,” Maeve said.
More than one car place. Ashley’s father owned multiple dealerships along the North Shore: Wright Honda, Wright Buick-Cadillac, Wright BMW. “Get the Wright Car at the Wright Price!” his ads used to scream from radio speakers, TV screens, and billboards. “Looking for a new car? You can’t go wrong with Wright!” Ashley had been one of the rich kids in town, living in a sprawling mansion with an ocean view on the north end of town. Now she lived in a condominium she was dying to show Quinn, but he’d thought it best to avoid that, at least until he figured out what he did or did not want to happen if he crossed the threshold.
“So…are you working in the area or just visiting?” he asked.
Her gaze flickered left and right before centering on him again. She appeared dubious, as if not quite sure how to answer, or why he’d even asked. He wasn’t sure why he’d asked, either, except that he felt…something. A need to become acquainted with her. A need to connect with her in some way. Just because he’d never gotten to know Maeve Nolan, the cop’s crazy daughter, in high school didn’t mean he couldn’t get to know her now.
“I’m not sure,” she finally answered. “I’m planning to open a cookie store, but we’ll see how it goes.”
A cookie store. That struck him as a little strange. People might open a bakery, or a doughnut shop, or an ice-cream parlor. But a cookie store?
All right. She’d been weird in high school, and she was weird now. Despite her weirdness, he was enjoying this conversation. He felt that this moment, this meeting, was why he’d taken the long way home. That made no sense, but not everything in the world had to make sense.
She peered past him once more, then gave him a smile that tugged his heart in an odd way. “You should go back to Ashley. She’s waiting for you. And I have to get back to work. Nice talking to you.” She turned and reached for the door.
He touched her wrist again, and her gaze fell to where his fingers rested against her skin. “Nice talking to you, too,” he said, then winced at the banality of their words. She’d said them because she wanted to leave, to get away from him. He’d said them because he meant them. He wanted to talk to her some more. He wanted to prove to her that he was no longer a self-centered dick who believed his value as a human being lay in his ability to throw a football. He wanted her to understand that he was open-minded now, and hard-working, and humble.
Why impressing Maeve Nolan mattered so much to him, he couldn’t say. But it did. He wanted her to see that he’d come home a better man than the person he’d been when he left town.
She slipped her arm from his light grip, gave him another smile that twisted something inside him, and swung open the door. Watching as she vanished into the rain, he thought, Cookies. Why not?
***
Don’t miss the other books in the Magic Jukebox series:
Changes
Antiques dealer Diana Simms is engaged to her longtime boyfriend when she finds herself inside the Faulk Street Tavern. The song “Changes” emerges from the jukebox and casts its spell on her. It also captivates Nick Fiore, a local boy who’s arrived at adulthood the hard way, after a tour through the juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a beautiful, well-bred woman wearing a diamond engagement ring. But once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change their lives, their goals, their dreams and their hearts.
True Colors
When she finds herself homeless, artist Emma Glendon accepts the invitation of her best friend to share a rental house in Brogan’s Point. But their absentee landlord, Nick Tarloff, has come to town from his home in San Francisco to sell the house, which will mean evicting his tenants. Nick is a high-tech brainiac and a self-made millionnaire. Emma is a painter and a free spirit. They have nothing in common—except the jukebox, which plays “True Colors” and forces them to recognize their own true colors, colors that can match and blend magnificently, if the magic of the jukebox has its way.
Wild Thing
Monica Reinhart is a good girl. A hometown girl. After college, she returned to Brogan’s Point to help run the family business, an oceanfront inn. She’s never done a wild thing in her life. When Ty Cronin sails into town, his wildness intrigues her. When the jukebox plays “Wild Thing,” that wildness infects her, and soon she finds herself doing things she never would have imagined. But Ty could be big trouble. She hardly knows him. She mustn’t trust him. Yet once she’s taken a walk on the wild side with him, how can she go back to being a good hometown girl?
Heat Wave
Caleb Solomon’s office air conditioner is on the fritz. Although not his choice, he winds up meeting with a difficult but profitable client in the pleasant chill of the air-conditioned Faulk Street Tavern. It’s there that high school teacher Meredith Benoit finds him. Due to a silly prank, her job and her reputation are in jeopardy. She needs a lawyer, fast. But the Magic Jukebox starts playing “Heat Wave,” and a hot wave of passion crashes over Caleb and Meredith, catching them in its undertow and carrying them off.
Moondance Page 18