Noah thought of his princess. He could feel the curve of her hip, see the warmth in her eyes, the soft swell of her creamy breasts. Why had he left her? Why hadn’t he let the mystery man come to him?
Because he hadn’t wanted his life in San Diego—who he really was—to intrude on the moment. The fantasy they both were enjoying.
Either that, or he hadn’t known what the hell he was thinking.
He wasn’t thinking she’d disappear, that was for sure.
“Noah?” Dylan asked with a frown.
He sighed. “Mind drifting. Thinking about hiking in the mountains, then playing a swashbuckler at a ball—I’ve got mental whiplash.”
“Not a chance,” his friend said without hesitation. “You never have mental whiplash, whatever that is.”
“It’s a big change to go from waking up in a sleeping bag on a mountain to dancing at a charity ball that night.”
Dylan was still obviously unconvinced. “You knew the deal. There were no surprises.” He shifted, then smiled. “Except for your princess. I guess she could have you whiplashed in a number of ways.”
“Funny, Dylan,” Noah said.
He grinned. “I thought so.”
As they finished their simple lunch, Noah noticed a woman come out of a small shed at the far end of the yard. She had a cobalt-blue scarf tied around her head and long, dark strawberry curls trailing down her back. She started up a bark-mulch path, and Noah saw she wore a deep red top that accentuated her breasts and shorts that shaped slim hips. Her sport sandals, though, looked as if they’d gone up and down Mt. Washington a time or two.
When she reached the terrace, she stayed on the path and motioned toward a raised flower bed as she addressed Olivia. “The slugs got to the miniature dahlias, Liv. They’re so gross. I put out slug bait and trimmed back the worst of the damage.” She shuddered, then smiled brightly. “I was admiring the gardens and couldn’t resist going on slug patrol when I saw the carnage.”
“Yuck,” Olivia said. “I hate slugs. Only thing worse are ticks.”
Noah glanced at Dylan. Slugs? Ticks? What had happened to bucolic small-town New England?
Dylan seemed to read his mind, with obvious amusement. “Ticks suck blood and can be hard to see,” he explained, not that an explanation was necessary or desired.
“Oh, sorry,” Olivia said. “Noah, this is my friend Phoebe O’Dunn. Maggie’s sister. Phoebe, this is—”
“Noah. Noah Kendrick.” He got to his feet and put out a hand. “A pleasure, Phoebe.”
She wiped a palm on her hip and smiled as she shook his hand, her skin warm, soft, her fingers long and slender. “I wore garden gloves when I took on the slugs, but you never know. It’s nice to meet you, Noah. I hope you’re enjoying Knights Bridge.”
“Hard not to on such a beautiful day, despite images of slugs and ticks.”
“Sorry about that,” she said, the twinkle in her eyes belying her words. “Are you here for long?”
“That’s not the plan.”
Noah saw that her eyes were a similar turquoise to her sister’s but shook off any comparison with his princess from last night. The false eyelashes, the heavy makeup—how would he be able to tell for sure? He doubted he’d recognize her voice. He wasn’t good at that sort of thing.
Now if he could touch her hips…
He shook off that thought, too. Whatever Olivia knew about his dance partner and wasn’t saying, it didn’t involve this attractive slug-hunter in scarf and muddy clothes.
Definitely not the same turquoise eyes.
With one smooth movement, Phoebe pulled off her scarf and gave her curls a shake once they were free. She seemed natural, unselfconscious. In her element, he thought.
“Well, if you do decide to stay on,” she said, “we’ll make sure you’re not bored.”
Noah felt his eyebrows go up and heard Dylan give a little cough behind him.
“Phoebe’s the town librarian,” Olivia added quickly.
“She can keep me in reading material, then.” Noah smiled at Knights Bridge’s redheaded librarian. “Nothing like a good book.”
“That’s right. I love to read. I meant to tie a hammock to two shade trees in my backyard this summer but I haven’t gotten to it. Reading a good book in a hammock in the shade—doesn’t that sound like the perfect summer afternoon?”
“Provided the hammock is tick-and slug-free,” Noah said mildly.
Phoebe laughed. “Definitely.” Her gaze steadied on him, her face angled so that the sunlight brought out the gold highlights in her hair and the spray of freckles on her nose and cheeks. “Were you at the masquerade ball last night?”
“Yes, I was. Were you?”
She waved a hand. “My youngest sisters and I helped Olivia and Maggie with their costumes.”
“More O’Dunn sisters?” Noah asked.
“There are four of us. Ava and Ruby are twins. They’re home for the summer but they’re in graduate school. They’re studying theater. They’d have gone last night if they’d had the time.”
“Maggie seemed to enjoy herself,” Olivia said.