Small-Town Girl. Jessica Keller

hers.

       Chapter Two

      Kendall had changed her outfit. Six times.

      It’s not a date.

      In the end, she opted for comfort over style and wore leopard-print ballet flats paired with skinny jeans and a charcoal tank top that had some fancy draping across the front.

      This morning after unpacking her condo a little more, Kendall had headed to Love on a Dime, where she’d spent the day drafting a press release and brainstorming other ways to get the word out about her business now that it was officially open.

      Next she’d looked up Brice online, since she’d forgotten to get his number last night, and found surprisingly little information. Unless he used a false name online—and he really didn’t seem the type—he had no social-media accounts. His shipping business was called, get this: Brice Daniels. Just his name. At least that had made the number to his company easy to find. Her next move would have been bugging his brother next door, but Evan had been busy all afternoon entertaining a string of customers. She’d called Brice’s number and left a message on what sounded like an ancient answering machine. His voice came across deeper on the greeting than she remembered.

      He’d called her back at the office ten minutes later and they’d settled on a time to meet at the pier. And now it was time. Kendall bounced her shoulders up and down a few times to relax them. Nerves. From looking forward to another sunset and the possibility of having a way to meet Sesser’s demand for a weekly event so easily; that was all.

      Instead of walking the beach as she’d done yesterday, Kendall drove to the dock. Nothing was clearly marked and she couldn’t find a parking spot, so she parked along the side of one of the warehouses where her vehicle wouldn’t be in the way and headed out to find Brice. Kendall didn’t have to walk too far onto the docks, though, because she spotted him waiting for her near the front of the pier. He waved and Kendall felt her breath catch.

      Oh. Grow up already.

      But it was impossible not to notice Brice’s strong presence. His shoulders were wide and his profile cut an ideal male figure against the backdrop of boats lightly bobbing in the marina. He wore nicer boots than he’d had on yesterday. These ones were the kind that could be worn to church or to a casual office. Dark jeans, a formfitting gray Henley that looked as though it would be incredibly soft from many trips through the washing machine and a navy blue lightweight jacket completed his look. Kendall had to command her jaw to keep from dropping wide-open. She’d dated plenty of men in the past ten years, but none who looked as effortlessly handsome as Brice. The man belonged in a movie playing a dashing prince.

      The sun hadn’t set yet, but it would in the next half hour. For the most part, the pier was quiet. Gentle waves lapped back and forth against the moorings, and a few fat seagulls scavenged for food along the beach.

      “Ready?” Brice’s whole face lit up as he smiled.

      “Lead the way.”

      He surprised her by offering his arm. She took it and they started down the pier. There were two places to dock boats in Goose Harbor—the white-painted wooden pier located near the downtown area that held all the fancy sailboats and yachts or the working pier, where they currently were. This one was concrete. It had stains and puddles and carried the smell of freshly caught fish. Most of the boats attached to the working pier were barges and other large ships. Here they were tucked away from the normal path and sight line of tourists. Toward the far right, one boat stuck out because it didn’t look like the rest of them. It was white and green and had a deck sitting on top.

      “Is that her?”

      Brice nodded. “I know she needs to be spruced up before we can put the public on her, but I think this one will be the best in my fleet for the cruises. At least at the start.”

      “I think the biggest improvement will be moving it to the other pier in town. That should be first on our list.”

      Brice stopped walking. “Move it to the other pier?”

      “Of course. That’s the pier tourists know about and gather at. This pier is functional and all, but it’s not pretty and won’t do for running tours. You see that, don’t you?” She felt the muscles in his arm flex under her hand as she spoke. Had she said something wrong?

      He looked down the pier and took a deep breath. “You may have a point.”

      “Did I say something wrong?”

      “It’s fine. I try to deal as little as possible with the man who owns the piers, is all.” Brice worked his free hand over his jaw. “But I’ll see if there’s space to rent at that one. I’ll check into it tomorrow.”

      “Thank you.”

      He unwound her arm from his, pulled the edge of the boat so it came flush with the pier and opened the gate-like door. “In you go.” He offered his hand again so he could help her across the gap of water, as the boat had already started drifting away from the pier a bit.

      Kendall didn’t wait for Brice to give her a tour. Instead she started through the boat on her own. It had two separate levels. The top had a green awning, and the bottom was contained but still above water. The lower section boasted wide windows so both levels could be used for a cruise if there were enough passengers. The lower level also had a small kitchen and two bathrooms.

      After climbing the stairs to the upper level, Kendall spotted what appeared to be a huge wheel of red paddles at the back of the boat. It reminded her of something out of an old-time movie. She turned around to find that Brice had been trailing her.

      “It’s called a paddle wheeler. But it’s a very small one.”

      “So it’s like Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi River. You’ve just upped the cuteness level of this sunset cruise venture a hundredfold. People will love to snap pictures on this thing. People will go selfie crazy on this boat!” Joy bubbled up in her chest. As long as Brice agreed, this sunset cruise plan could work.

      Brice tapped the boat. “I’m no expert on cuteness levels, so I’ll take your word on that.”

      “Do you use this boat to haul things for your business?”

      “I could. It has a lot of surface area for its size, so when it came up at the auction I placed a bid. Most people were there that day for heavy-duty working ships, so I got her for a good price. But it hasn’t been used much since I bought her.”

      “Which turns out to be a good thing for us.”

      “A blessing in disguise.” He smiled. “Ready to head out? The sun will be setting in the next twenty minutes here, and the lake is smooth enough to go out a ways.”

      Kendall grabbed the side railing and tried to jiggle it. “Are you sure she’s sound?” That was a correct ship statement, right?

      “She’s sound. Needs a new coat of paint and an elbow grease of a cleaning, but she’s sound. The coast guard certified her, and we’ll have to have her inspected annually just like the rest of the ships. We’ll have to carry more life jackets on board. I think she’s got ten or so now, but we’ll need one for every passenger we plan to have. The ship-to-shore radio worked the last time I checked, and she’s radar-equipped.”

      “Then let’s shove off.” Kendall saluted him because that felt like the right thing to do to a boatman, but heat flashed across her cheeks after doing so.

      Brice’s face did that thing where he was clearly fighting a huge, goofy grin again. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

      He unwound the ropes holding the boat to the pier and then jumped back onto the vessel. Brice worked his way to the top of the ship, where there was a booth built for him to sit at and steer. Kendall came alongside him as he started the boat and it rumbled to life.

      Brice winked at her. “Go on over to the edge