Page 59 of Enchanted to Meet You

“You did.” I was blinking back tears of laughter. “Congratulations. What was the tip-off?”

“You have a lot of books, but you don’t really seem like the kind of person who’d hang on to an outdated ‘best of’ movie guide.”

“You’re right about that.”

“That incense powder doesn’t really seem to be coming off, does it?”

“You’re right about that, too.” But he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the more I rubbed at him, the more he seemed to like it. “I think you’re going to need a shower.”

“Yeah. Maybe you’d like to join me?”

I looked up at him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more intensely glowing pair of eyes—or a more invitingly upturned mouth.

So of course that’s when there was a knock on the front door.

If Derrick had had a weapon, I swear he’d have whipped it out and leaped in front of me to defend me from whatever danger he imagined was out there on my porch—or was keeping us from “showering” together.

But since he didn’t have one, he simply used his body to shield me.

“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked, those gleaming eyes narrowing dangerously.

“At seven in the morning?” I had to admit, my heart was hammering. Maybe I hadn’t quite fully recovered from yesterday’s hailstorm. “I’m not a barbarian.”

Then I heard Dina’s familiar—and very loud—voice call from behind the door, “Jess? It’s me! I saw your lights on. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

I was already at the door and opening it before Derrick could move a muscle.

“Oh, hi,” she said, bursting in and not even pretending to be surprised to see me standing there in my pajamas with Derrick covered in incense powder right behind me. She held up two large coffees from Wake Up West Harbor. “These are for you two. Jess, why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“Because it’s seven in the morning. I haven’t even looked at my phone yet.”

Although Mark and Dina were both early risers—dog owners generally were—they knew that swinging by my house with coffee before eight in the morning under normal circumstances was pointless, since I wouldn’t be out of bed by then.

But these weren’t normal circumstances. So there they stood, with carefully neutral looks on their faces, and steaming hot beverages in their hands. Mark, in his black leather jacket, was even waving a box of pastries.

All because they wanted dirt on my private life.

Or maybe not....

“So you haven’t heard?” Mark asked.

“Heard what?” I asked, despite my own misgivings and the disapproval I could feel radiating off Derrick.

But it was too late. Dina had already thrust her coffees at us, and Mark was hurrying into my kitchen.

“There was a king tide last night.” Dina couldn’t spill the beans fast enough. She began shedding her coat and scarf, throwing her things everywhere, as had been her custom since we were tweens. “Water went all the way up to the Post Road.” Seeing my face, she added, “Don’t worry, it didn’t reach Enchantments. It stopped before it got to downtown. But there’s driftwood in front of the library.”

Derrick was so concerned, he didn’t even seem to notice the new coffee in his hand. “I saw that there was seaweed and sand on the road when I went for my run this morning. But I thought maybe that was normal here this time of year.”

“You run, bro?” Mark came back from the kitchen, an assortment of pastries laid out on one of my plates. “Me, too. What’s your daily?”

“I like to get in six miles, if I can,” Derrick replied.

Mark shook his head. “Six is murder, bro. You spend the first two getting warmed up, then you just get your groove going, and you gotta start cooling down. Gotta do ten.”

“Six works for me,” Derrick said.

“Hi, we weren’t properly introduced last night in all the fuss over the wolf.” Dina walked over and held her hand out toward Derrick. “I’m Jess’s friend, Dina DiAngelo.”