Finding Love in Forgotten Cove (Island County Series Book 1) by Karice Bolton

in his first year of college so they completely related. I met with one of my student’s parents after and—” I stopped. Why in the world did I think he cared enough to listen to me drone on about my day?
    “Why’d you stop?” Mason asked, walking toward me. His eyes fastened on mine and heat rolled up my body the closer he came. His expression looked as if he wanted to devour me, and I felt completely at his mercy, but he kept walking right on by…right on by to the kitchen.
    I certainly misjudged that one.
    “I didn’t want to bore you,” I answered, swallowing down the embarrassment of the sorry excuse of an imagination I had.
    Mason refilled his glass with water and took a sip, his eyes still connected with mine. And those eyes—that stare—was all it took for my world to be knocked off-kilter. It had to be something to do with the island air.
    “You would never bore me,” he said, setting the glass on the counter. “Even if you tried and might I add I think there has been some of that going on.”
    He grabbed a bag of sliced apples out of the fridge and ripped it open.
    “What do you mean?” I asked, resting both hands on my hips. “Why in the world would I go out of my way to bore someone?”
    He smirked and shook his head, rubbing his jaw. “I haven’t been able to figure that one out. You have a habit of starting conversations that you never finish. Let’s just say, I know you’ve been holding back or you’ve got a serious case of dementia starting.”
    “I’m not holding back at all,” I lied. “I happen to get easily distracted and I think you’re probably exaggerating.”
    “Nope. I’ve been waiting patiently for the conclusions to around eleven half-finished stories. You started about five of them while we were tiling the bathroom.”
    It was true. There was something about Mason that made me want to open up and tell him everything all at once, but I couldn’t afford where that could lead so I found myself clamming up every time I caught myself rambling away. I hadn’t expected him to notice or care.
    “So I don’t make it twelve unfinished stories, the meeting with Delilah’s mother went well. We think we might have figured out why Delilah flunked her favorite subject, winding up in summer school, and his name is Brendan.”
    “A girl wouldn’t do that for a guy.” Mason looked concerned as he walked back into the family room. There was no place to sit except the floor. He’d managed to haul all the furniture onto the deck outside in order to refinish the floors.
    “You’d be surprised what crazy things people can do for love, and at that age, it can feel like the end of the world, especially if you have a crush and the other person refuses to see it. And it’s not only girls who are hopelessly denied, by the way.”
    Mason’s brow quirked up slightly and it looked as if he was biting his tongue, literally.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He grinned and shook his head, picking up a trowel. “So I think that still leaves me on pins and needles to hear the dog up the tree, Camp Gilroy, The Last of the Mohicans , nude beach, London blow off, boat excursion seasick trips—numbers one-two-and three, sorority dance, and first teaching job stories… and one of the most intriguing, the more recent overboard canoe outing that required a tetanus shot.”
    I shook my head. “Now I know I didn’t stop and start that canoe story.”
    “No, but your friend did and that’s enough for me.”
    I took a seat on the floor next to the fireplace, feeling far too comfortable in this house for my liking. I prepared for the sadness to wash over me, sitting in the same place as I sat with my sister so many years before, but it didn’t. I looked up at Mason and found myself searching for some reason why, for the moment, I didn’t want to go running from this place.
    “The stone you chose is beautiful. I can’t wait to see it go up.”
    “I think this would be the perfect