Lucy stood behind the polished wooden counter of Nook, absently wiping down a tray as she replayed the earlier encounter with Miles in her head for what had to be the fiftieth time.
The casual friendliness he showed now? Infuriating. Mocking, almost.
And yet, here she was — flushed and rattled because a simple “see you soon” carried too much weight.

The bell above the door jingled and Lucy straightened instinctively, half-expecting Harper or a customer — but no, it was Miles again, peeking his head inside.

“You forgot this,” he said, holding up a single invitation — the ones she’d been handing out earlier for her grand opening.

Lucy blinked, confused. “That’s yours.”

He chuckled. “You didn’t give me one.”

“I assumed you’d rather chew nails than attend,” she said dryly, crossing her arms.

“Maybe,” he said, grinning, “but… if it’s an official invite, I guess I’ll have to come.”

Something fluttered in her chest that she immediately stomped down.

Lucy huffed, snatching the invite from his hand and shoving it toward him. “Fine. Officially invited, Mr. Bennet. Happy?”

Miles leaned a little closer, his voice lowering. “You’ll be happy when you see I clean up nicely.”

Before she could fire back, he was already gone, the door jingling behind him.
Lucy stared after him, heart hammering, the invite still clutched in her hand as if it had burned her.
What in the world was happening?

---

Meanwhile, upstairs at Bennet Realty, Graham caught Miles returning with a smirk he recognized a little too well.

“You look like you won a game no one else was playing,” Graham said, setting down a file.

Miles shrugged, tossing the invite onto his desk. “Might’ve scored an invite to Nook’s big opening.”

Graham raised an eyebrow. “Thought you two were still trying to kill each other.”

“We were,” Miles said, grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. “Now… it’s a little more complicated.”

Graham just shook his head, half amused, half wary.
Complicated was Miles’s favorite brand of disaster.

---

Back at Nook, Lucy stared down at the growing RSVP pile on the counter.
Harper slid into the shop with a mischievous smile, already clocking her sister’s distracted expression.

“Let me guess,” Harper teased, setting down a box of pastry boxes. “Miles Bennet?”

Lucy glared at her. “You’re banned from matchmaking.”

Harper only laughed, waving her off. “You can’t ban fate, Lucy.”

Lucy muttered under her breath as she tucked the last invite into a neat stack.
Fate was seriously overrated.

But for the first time… she wasn’t so sure.