A Secret Message (Lavender Cove #1)

Three

IT WAS HER SMILE HE saw first.

His entire world came to a standstill at the sight of it, and his steps slowed to a halt.

He had never been the type to believe in destiny. But something about the woman's smile drew him in. Inexplicably. Instantly .

Rule wished he was close enough to see the color of her eyes. But even from the distance he stood, it was easy to tell how her eyes sparkled with life.

He watched her chat with a middle-aged couple as she rang up the register, and a strange sensation gripped his chest when he saw her expression turn mischievous. Something she said afterward had the couple laughing, and they were still smiling upon leaving the counter with their takeaway bag and coffee in tow.

Her smiles rendered him motionless, his attention taken captive. By watching her work behind the counter, he finally understood what it meant for joy to be infectious.

The more he saw, the more he wanted to talk to her. The more he saw her smile, the more he wanted to know how it felt if she was smiling at him. The more he watched her, the more he wanted to get to know her.

Riiiiiiing.

But he could not.

Rule could already feel his mood changing as he slowly took his phone out. He canceled the call, only to have a barrage of texts flood his inbox.

Where are you?

Why won't you answer my call?

I need to talk to you.

The messages were like reality slapping him in the face, and Rule switched his phone off and shoved it back in his pocket as he turned away. Life was complicated as it was, and starting fresh didn't mean one could completely escape their past.