“Evie, this is my husband, Dexter. Dexter, Evie.”

I held out my hand, beaming at him. “So nice to meet you. Your food is amazing.”

“I told you you’d like her,” Milly muttered.

Dexter chuckled and brought my hand to his lips for a quick kiss. “It’s a pleasure, Evie. I’m chuffed to bits you like the food, considering you’re from Chicago.” Dexter released my hand and leaned on the table, his head bent toward mine conspiratorially. “Have you ever eaten at Alinea? It’s on my bucket list.”

Alinea was a fine dining restaurant in the city. It had three Michelin stars and was ranked in the top fifty best restaurants in the world. I chuckled at the feverish look in his eyes. “I’m afraid not. Alinea is a little out of my price range.”

The chef opened his mouth to say something else, but Milly caught him by the arm. “Let them eat their pudding.” Milly smiled at me. “We’ll come over later when the pub is quieter and join you for a pint.”

Something in me relaxed. Having Milly and Dexter as a buffer between me and Roane did not sound like a bad thing. “Great!”

When they’d gone, Roane waved a hand at the plate. “Ladies first.”

Sharing a dessert was strangely intimate. It did not help that we kept locking gazes. His eyes appeared darker than they really were because of the sable outer rims of his irises. However, on close inspection, I found a lighter shade of brown encircled his pupils, a dark mahogany, and between the sable and mahogany were embers of a fire. Copper in the sunlight. Bright autumn leaves on dark soil.

I could have stared into Roane’s eyes all night.

Most discomforting in all this was the fact that I wasn’t uncomfortable. Despite my hyperawareness of him, I was weirdly at ease in his company.

“So.” Roane pushed the plate aside. “Chicago?”

“I grew up in the suburbs of Indiana. Carmel, north of Indianapolis. But I graduated from Northwestern University, which is north of Chicago, and I just never left. What about you? Born and raised in Northumberland?”

“Aye. The farm is a couple of miles from here. I went to school, traveled a bit, but the Northumberland Coast is home.”

I smiled, imagining him wandering the world only to be drawn back to the beauty here. “What a home it is.”

Roane smiled appreciatively. “You like it here so far then?”

“So far. Alnster is beautiful, and I haven’t even walked along the beach yet.”

“There’s a lot more to see.”

“I know. I’ve decided the store will only be open four days a week. That way the rest of the time I’ll sightsee.”

“Good plan. You know, it was a surprise to hear you rented from Penny. Last we heard, she was selling the place.”

This news surprised and saddened me. I hadn’t even been open one day as the “owner,” and yet it had already brought me the peace and relaxation I’d been looking for. To be surrounded by books in such a beautiful place. “I booked last minute, maybe that’s why.”

Roane asked me why renting a bookstore was my idea of a vacation, and I told him of my love of all things books and Shakespeare.

His lips twitched and he stared at me, gaze warm, like he thought I was adorable. “I’ve never really been a fan of Shakespeare, to be honest.”

I narrowed my eyes, teasing, “How can you not be a fan of Shakespeare?”

Roane shrugged.

“Now is the winter of our discontent.”

His eyes danced with laughter.

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

His smile grew.

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”

The warmth in his eyes darkened. “That’s a good one. I like that.”

Pleased, I nodded and continued, “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” I leaned forward, and Roane’s gaze flickered to my mouth. “How can you not be a fan of Shakespeare when his characters say epic shit like that?”

Roane laughed and leaned toward me. “Well, when you put it like that . . . Also, I’m impressed you know all that by heart.”

“Do you want the truth?”

“Aye, always, unless it’s something negative about Shadow. I won’t hear a bad word against him, even if he shit on your marigolds.”

I threw my head back in laughter. How could a guy be both adorable and sexy? I hadn’t thought it possible until I met Farmer Robson.

Roane’s eyes glittered, his lips twitching with amusement. “You were saying?”

“Oh. Yeah. Well, I love Shakespeare. I do. But I memorized a bunch of lines in college to impress my hot lit professor and they stuck.”

“Your dedication to get his attention is impressive.”