Free Getting Lucky (The Portland Pioneers Book 2) by Beth Bolden

know I can’t tell you that, Mags. Only you know whether you should risk your friendship with him. If it doesn’t work, you may never be able to turn the clock back. On the other hand, maybe he’s onto something and you should give it a chance.” She leaned forward, and Maggie caught a whiff of Ella’s favorite rose potpourri and the sandalwood incense that Maggie knew she liked to burn in the back room of the shop. “Only you can say for sure. But it’s not a decision to rush, I don’t think.”
    “He’s trying to rush me,” Maggie said. “I think because he believes it’ll result in a positive response.”
    “That doesn’t sound like Cal either,” Ella pointed out.
    “This whole thing doesn’t sound like Cal.” Maggie’s words were practically wrenched from her in agonized frustration. “From the very beginning this has been completely unlike him.”
    The heavy bronze bell hanging from the front door tinkled and Maggie glanced up to see Noah Fox pushing up his sunglasses and greeting them with one of his easy smiles.
    “Maggie,” Ella whispered not very quietly. “Look at that man. Look at him .”
    Nudging Ella to be quiet with a subtle push of her leg, Maggie unhooked her arms and stood. It paid to be prepared when it was Noah Fox. “Noah, I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. Ella was still apparently in shock from his appearance because uncharacteristically, she’d yet to utter a word.
    “Taking a tour of the town,” he said with a wry grin that told her he’d realized just how short of a tour this would be. She couldn’t argue with him on that point.
    “Pretty boring up at the hotel, then?” she said sweetly. “I can imagine being used to the big city and all, Sand Point can be a trifle quiet.”
    His contemplative expression was nothing she’d expected. “I like it, actually,” he said. “The fast lane gets exhausting after a while.”
    Maggie supposed the fast lane would seem even worse after a serious concussion.
    “This is a . . .” Noah glanced around and Maggie had to hide her amusement as he searched for an adjective that could even remotely begin to describe the visual cacophony of Ella’s shop. “It’s a nice store,” he finished, and the answering amusement in his glance towards Maggie made her heart accelerate embarrassingly. Thank god he couldn’t know about her betraying organ. The very last thing he needed to realize was that she wasn’t nearly as immune to him as she pretended to be.
    “Oh, it’s just a bit of this and a bit of that,” Ella piped up, an awestruck tremor in her voice. “And who might you be?” Maggie had to stifle the laughter as Ella literally batted her lashes at him.
    “Noah Fox, ma’am.” He stepped forward and confidently thrust his arm forward. Ella took one glance at the bronzed skin of his exposed forearm and its pronounced muscles and blushed as she hesitantly shook his hand.
    “I’m Ella Pomeroy. I own this store. And you know my Maggie,” Ella said so proudly, not so subtly putting a hand on Maggie’s back and giving her an encouraging push forward. Maggie didn’t need to even see Ella’s expression to imagine the fevered expectation there.
    “I do,” he said with another devastating smile. “I heard the Café was the place to get a great meal in this town, and I wasn’t disappointed.”
    “Maggie’s the best cook in these parts.” Ella’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Some say the Cliffs does a better meal, but if Maggie served dinner, she’d put them to shame.”
    Maggie couldn’t help but flush in pleased embarrassment. “Lucas serves a whole different experience,” she tried to explain. “Lucas Corrgian. He owns the Cliffs.”
    “That’s the building with all the windows up on the hill, right?” Noah asked. Maggie was very nearly astonished he hadn’t eaten dinner there yet.
    “It’s a nice hike up there, but then you’ve got the muscles for it,” Ella said appreciatively,