Chapter 10

ten

ALEX

As we left the café, I held open the door for Dylan. Coming to Sunrise Bay for lunch was the best idea I’d had all week. Over grilled sandwiches and coffee, we’d talked about our work, the things that were important to us, and the things we’d sooner forget.

As soon as he stepped onto the pavement, Dylan zipped up his jacket and pulled on a bright blue, wooly hat. “I want to visit the candy store before I head home. Thanks for a great lunch.”

I took a deep breath. Dylan really was the most stunning man I’d ever met. “I can walk with you. The general store’s a couple of doors down from Jonathon’s candy shop.”

“You know the owner?”

“I met him not long after I moved to Sunrise Bay. He worked from his converted garage for eighteen months before opening the store.” I glanced at Dylan, hoping he didn’t think anything romantic happened between Jonathon and me .

“I don’t know how you stay away from his store. I bought some fudge on my way to your house and it was incredible.”

I knew how good Jonathon’s candy tasted, and so did most of Sunrise Bay. I pointed down the street. “There’s a line out the door.”

Dylan’s eyes widened. “Is it always this busy?”

“It’s Saturday. People leave the market and come straight here.” I stood at the end of the line, slowly moving forward with the rest of the people. By the time I made it to the store, I peered through the large glass windows. Jonathon was behind the counter with Kathleen Murphy, serving their customers.

I’d been so busy trying to fix the program that I hadn’t seen many people for the last few weeks.

We kept moving. The smell of rich chocolate tickled my nose. I didn’t usually have a sweet tooth, but I was definitely addicted to Jonathon’s fudge. “I’ve been trying to convince Jonathon to start an online store. It would take some of the foot traffic away and increase his revenue.”

“I guess it takes time to set up everything.”

I stepped closer to the front counter. “That’s what Jonathon said. At the moment, the store’s so busy that he doesn’t have time to do anything except create more candy. What are you buying?”

“Mom loves fudge, so I’ll get her a selection of flavors. Dad likes sucking on rock candy, so I’ll buy him some of the raspberry whopper sticks I saw on Monday. Steve will enjoy the sherbet, and Luke isn’t eating anything except lettuce leaves, so I’ll buy some chocolate fudge to annoy him.”

“I’m sure everyone, except Luke, will be suitably impressed. ”

Dylan grinned. “I hope so.”

I knew I didn’t have to wait in line with him, but I wanted to delay the moment when I said goodbye. If that made me desperate, I didn’t care. I liked spending time with Dylan and I wouldn’t have been this far through debugging my program without him. And besides, there were worse things I could be doing than standing in a candy store.

“Alex!” Jonathon’s warm smile made me glad I was here. “I thought you were hiding in your house for a few weeks.”

“I’ve run out of food. Jonathon, this is Dylan Holmes. Dylan’s working on a project with me.”

Jonathon held out his hand. “Hi, Dylan. It’s nice to meet you. I hope Alex isn’t working you too hard.”

Dylan’s quick smile made me sigh.

“He’s okay. I’ve had worse clients.”

My eyebrows rose. “Hey, I’m standing right here.”

“Don’t worry,” Jonathon said. “I know what Dylan means. You have a one-track mind sometimes. Do you want to know the secret to Alex’s happiness, Dylan?”

Dylan glanced at me and grinned. “It might come in handy.”

“Caramel fudge. If he gets grumpy, hand him a bar and see what happens.”

I frowned. Jonathon made me sound like one of the seven dwarfs. “I’m not that bad.”

Dylan and Jonathon looked at each other and smiled.

“Only sometimes,” Jonathon added. “What can I get you?”

Dylan studied the cabinet in front of us. “I’ll start with a box of caramel fudge.”

I groaned. Dylan was taking Jonathon’s advice seriously. It was true—I really did have a thing for his fudge. But it wasn’t the secret to my happiness. That had arrived in a six-foot-three body with light brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes.

And to make matters worse, I was worried my addiction to Dylan might be worse than the one I had for candy.