Page 75 of Lee

Carisa: Just sitting at the light to turn into the park.

Lee sent a thumbs up to her, then got to his feet. He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Rori, do you want to come with me to the road?”

She peered up at him. “The road?”

“Yep. I told Carisa to text when she got to the entrance of the park so I could stand along the road and wait for her.”

“Oh.” Her gaze dropped for a moment, then she looked up at him again. “Sure. Okay.”

Lee held his hand out, and after a brief hesitation, Rori gave him hers and allowed him to help her to her feet. As soon as she was steady, he reluctantly let her soft fingers slip from his.

“Let’s go see if we can find an empty spot for Carisa to park,” Lee said with a smile.

It had dawned on him, as they were talking when he’d first found her earlier, that maybe seeing him with Carisa at church had made her feel like she’d been replaced in their group.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

If he had to choose between Carisa and Rori, it would be Rori every time. Though he’d initially tried to resist it, he’d been drawn to her from almost the first time they’d met. Plus, his feelings were deep enough already that there wasn’t anything Carisa could offer him that he would want over Rori.

Lee knew that even if Rori told him she wasn’t interested in him, he still wouldn’t immediately feel attracted to Carisa.

Maybe it was time to have a conversation with Rori.

Or maybe he had to have a frank conversation with himself.

His last breakup had been because his girlfriend decided she didn’t like that Lee’s past was unknown. Initially, after they’d gone their separate ways, he hadn’t thought he needed the information right away. Even so, he’d gone to his parents to ask them about his biological family.

But when they hadn’t known anything, Lee had backed off, worried he might upset them. And since he hadn’t had any interest in dating right then, his need for the information hadn’t been pressing.

However, as time passed, he’d realized he couldn’t put off getting that information if he wanted to start dating again. After having another chat with his parents about it, Lee had been left feeling that they weren’t being completely forthcoming with him. So a couple of months earlier, he’d contacted a private detective to help him out, then he’d taken the DNA test.

He’d been determined to have a full understanding of his biological roots before he started dating because he hadn’t wanted to risk heartache once again if his next girlfriend felt the same as his ex had.

Then Rori had come to work at the clinic, and here he was a few weeks later, falling in love with her.

How long was he supposed to wait for answers?

The more time he spent with Rori, the more he thought maybe he’d waited long enough. Frankly, it felt too long already. There was no way it wouldn’t hurt if Rori rejected him, even now.

They didn’t have time for a conversation right then, but maybe he’d test the waters a bit that week—be a bit more obvious about his interest in her—to see how she responded before asking her out.

“Are you glad you joined us?” he asked as they walked along the road, looking for an empty parking spot.

“I am.” She gave him a smile. “You knew I would be.”

“My family is pretty awesome,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “They are. It definitely explains why you are the way you are.”

He gently bumped his elbow against her arm. “Is that your way of saying that I’m awesome, too?”

Even though she kept her face in profile, Lee could see the smile tugging at her lips. He didn’t even bother to hide his grin in response to that.

“There’s a spot right there,” Rori said, pointing up ahead of them.

When they reached it, Lee stepped into the spot and faced the oncoming traffic.

“Do you know what she’s driving?”

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