“Beautiful day,” a smooth sexy voice said near her.

“Are you stalking me?” she said to Gage as he stepped in front of her.

“I’m trained to search and rescue people,” he said.

“So is that a yes?”

He glanced at Michelle’s shop, then back at Chloe. Maybe he was trying to get another look at Michelle? Not that Chloe cared or anything. They weren’t committed—far from it. One date didn’t mean anything, and one night of hot sex didn’t mean anything either.

Yep…totally didn’t care.

Gage smiled. “I won’t admit to stalking off the clock. But I must say that a beautiful woman puts even a beautiful day to shame.”

Chloe glanced at where Michelle had disappeared to. “Yeah, we all know how beautiful Michelle is.”

She wasn’t jealous he was talking about another woman. No reason for her to care.

He tucked a lock of hair behind Chloe’s ear. “I was commenting on the beautiful woman in front of me.”

“Smooth.”

“Hey, that was one of my best lines.” He winked at her, and that mushy feeling flared up in the way only he could manage. She laughed a little. But when he flashed those dimples, he had her hooked.

Oh God…were they flirting?

Not the sexy I want in your pants flirting, but the cutesy Will you take me to the sock hop? flirting. It needed to stop. Now.

“So what are you doing?” he asked.

“I was heading to work, just stopping to get the paper.” She tapped the small bin where the Beaufort Daily Gazette rested.

He opened his mouth, but Michelle’s voice boomed out, followed by the clicking of her four-inch stilettos.

“I’m so sorry, Chloe, I don’t have it. I even checked my recycling, but it was picked up yesterday. I would have saved it if I’d known.”

Chloe tried not to let the hollow feeling creep in. If it had run a few days ago, all the papers were gone by now. “Totally fine,” she said. “I appreciate you looking.”

“Looking for what?” Gage asked.

“There was an article about Chloe’s mom and her restaurant in the paper,” Michelle said.

At the same time, Chloe shot out, “Nothing.”

He glanced between them. Chloe wasn’t interested in standing around. Her eyes stung, and Gage, with his big shoulders and muscly arms, looked too huggable for her to stay. Especially since she needed a hug then. The exact kind of need she couldn’t allow herself to feel.

“Bye,” she said quickly and hustled off. The bar was the beacon at the end of the street, and she was almost there. She had to toughen up. Certain things couldn’t be changed: her mother was gone, her father had long ago disappeared, and she’d missed the paper she was dying to see.

This was why she tried not to care about things…because disappointment usually followed.

“You’re rocking one sour look.” Natalie sipped her milkshake at the bar as the night wound down. “This is delicious. Maybe you should make yourself one to cheer you up.”

“It’s an adult twist on a s’mores milkshake. Marshmallow vodka,” Chloe said. She couldn’t cook for shit, but she could make some awesome drinks.

“So, so good.” Natalie slurped up the last of it through her straw. “But seriously, what’s going on? You’ve been mopey all day.”

“Just a lot on my mind.” Like the article. Like Gage. The more she thought about him, the more she wished she didn’t, because it was consuming. She’d waited for him to show up tonight…and he hadn’t. Of course, she hadn’t invited him to come to the bar. And he hadn’t said he would. Yet here she was waiting for him.

She felt like she had rocks on her chest—God, she was worse than a teen waiting for her crush to call.

Why had she gone out with him? She should have stuck to sex, but no, he’d insisted and she’d given in to the date and romance. And now she was pining.

“I hate this feeling,” she whispered. Hope was a dangerous thing, and so was wanting too much. Chloe had learned early on that people always leave, so it was best not to get attached. Yet right now, the one guy pursuing her was doing what she wanted—staying away. And it hurt anyway.

Truth was, she didn’t want him to stay away—but she didn’t want him too close.

“You thinking about the hottie in camo?” Natalie said.

“Kind of.”

Natalie smiled. “Sometimes admitting what you want isn’t so bad.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“Yeah, he wants to spend time with you out of the sack, only to get you back in the sack when you’re done. Isn’t that all…good?”

“You’d think so.” But it wasn’t. Not for Chloe. She wanted to maintain some level of indifference—it was safer, even if she had to fake it. Being the fantasy and a little unobtainable kept people interested longer. And she wanted Gage to stay interested. But if it became too real, all their stuff would come out—emotions. The kind that came with claws and wanted to attach to things.

“What would be so bad?” Natalie said. “You may like him.”

“I do like him,” Chloe countered. “That’s not the problem.”

“Oh, I see. You don’t want to like him too much.”

Chloe nodded. “Something like that.” It was the first time she’d admitted it out loud.

“Ladies.”

Chloe’s heart leaped out of her chest as she turned and saw the owner of the voice. Gage. He was here—he’d come after all. And the only thing that matched her happiness at him showing up was realizing how sad she would have felt if he hadn’t.

Gage walked up to the bar with a small box under his arm.

“You really are stalking me,” she said, trying for mock irritation.

“Hard to call it stalking when everyone knows you work here. Not exactly detective work, sweetheart.” He dropped the box on the counter.

Natalie hopped up and winked at Chloe as she scurried to the bathroom. Her friend wasn’t exactly subtle.

“What’s in the box?” she asked Gage.

He rested an arm over the top. “It’s for you.”

“If it’s a severed head I’m going to be pissed.”

He grinned. “Nah, nothing so dramatic. Why don’t you open it and see?”

She hesitated, lifted the lid, and—

“How…what…how?” Chloe glanced between him and the box. She reached in and grabbed the stack of inserts from the newspaper. At least twenty copies of the anniversary article.

“This has been out of print for at least a few days…” She couldn’t believe it—not only did she have more copies than she’d ever need, but the papers were brand new. A stack of starched, pressed, crisp inserts. How?

Gage shrugged. “Had a chat with the head of the paper.”

Her eyes widened. “What, you walked in and—”

“It took some persuading, but this is what you wanted, right?”

She looked at the stack. He hadn’t just found her a copy. He’d found her twenty.

“Yes,” she whispered. After everything, Gage had come in and saved the day.

And that reality hit a spot between her ribs that made her heart soften for him.

He ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I thought maybe some extras would be smart, so you could give them out or scrapbook them or something…”

Was Gage actually…nervous? Like he was worried about whether she would be happy with his gift. The need to hug him came flooding back double time. Not to mention—he thought she scrapbooked? Adorable.

“Thank you.” She ran her palm over the stack again. “This is really amazing.”

He shrugged but leveled his intense gaze on her. “It’s my job to find things, sweetheart. Making you happy is a bonus.” He patted the counter and turned to leave.

“Gage?”

He glanced back.

Chloe bit her lip. She could do this. Deep breaths. “Would you, um, want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Gage’s eyes widened and his eyebrows arched. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“Yes…looks like I am.”

He smiled. “I’d love to.”