“He’s my best pal and that arsehole tourist was too busy looking at his phone and not the road. He would have hit him if you hadn’t dragged him out of the middle of the street.” Roane stepped toward me, and my skin tingled with awareness. “Please tell me you’re not just visiting for one day. I’d love to buy you a drink in thanks.”

Curse my luck!

I swear off men. I book a trip to England to find myself.

Instead I find a sexy English farmer who looked at me like he wanted to kiss my feet in thanks and then strip me naked to thank me some more.

Was it genuine attraction, or was he just grateful I’d saved his dog?

“Um . . .” I cleared my throat as I attempted to shake off the ludicrous spell he seemed to have cast over me. Was this what instant lust felt like? “I’m renting the bookstore. From Penny Peterson.”

Roane frowned. “She’s still renting it out?”

Milly had asked the same thing. What was that about?

I opened my mouth to query this, when he continued. “For how long?”

“Four weeks. I just arrived last night.”

His eyebrows raised. “Four weeks?” Curiosity was evident in those twinkling eyes of his, and suddenly he grinned again. And it was wicked. It was the kind of grin that belonged on a womanizing playboy, not a farmer. “Then you can definitely join me for a drink tonight at The Anchor.”

Oh boy.

“I’m not sure I can.” Suddenly I wanted to run as far and as fast from this gorgeous man as I could. I leaned over to scratch Shadow behind the ears, gave the dog a smile and Roane a grimace. “I need to get back to the store. It was nice meeting you,” I repeated.

However, I’d barely made it three steps when Roane and Shadow fell into stride beside me.

I kept walking but shot him a “can I help you?” look.

“I really have to insist that you let me make reparations toward you on behalf of Shadow. He’d do it himself, but he’s shy around beautiful women.”

A huff of laughter fell from my lips at his flirtation. “That’s a shame. He’s very handsome.”

“I know, the bonny bastard is always stealing female attention away from me.”

Chuckling, I shook my head at his nonsense, watching my footing as we strolled past the harbor, in case I took another tumble. When my attention returned to Roane, his eyes were trailing across my face, seeming to linger on my mouth before our gazes locked. Flabbergasted by the interest he did not hide, I stumbled, my foot hitting a crack in the sidewalk.

Roane grabbed my bicep to steady me and I groaned, feeling my cheeks warm. “You must think I’m a klutz.”