Page 82 of The Love Shack

Oliver. What was he doing here?

Somehow, their gazes locked and she couldn’t force herself to look away. “He’s here,” Lark whispered. He seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Giving Oliver the “just a second” sign of one finger, she turned to Berkley.

“I think I’m going to blush.” Looking back and forth between them, Berkley laughed. “Yeah, you two definitely have a thing.”

“Butwhat?” Lark would like to find out.

“Definitely physical.” Berkley kept her voice low so he wouldn’t hear. “But there’s a lot of other stuff going on.”

Lark sighed. “I hope so.” Every time she saw Oliver, she wanted him more.

Touching her arm, Berkley whispered, “With all these sparks going off, maybe you should tell him why you moved here?”

“What?” Lark snapped her gaze to Berkley. “I couldn’t.”

“Why not? You don’t think he’d understand?”

She had no idea, and she wasn’t sure if she was willing to chance it.

Oliver lifted his brows, watching them both whispering together and probably wondering why one of them didn’t let him in.

Lark bit her lip. “You really think I should?”

“I’m hopeless when it comes to figuring out relationships, but I know that talking to Lawson about the stuff that worries me made me feel better, like I had a fresh perspective.”

Oliver, however, was nothing like Lawson. For one thing, they didn’t share a past. For another, he was seriousness personified, while she enjoyed laughing and teasing, which was the main reason everyone had been so surprised over her reaction to being pregnant. “What if I tell him and it scares him off before we’ve even gotten started?”

“Then maybe it’s better to know that now, before you’re more invested.” Berkley turned so that she blocked Oliver’s view of Lark. “I’m the last person on earth who can give advice about life. So this is just a thought, maybe a gut feeling. You won’t be happy casually dating Oliver. You want to know he’s open to a relationship, too, right? Doesn’t mean it will work out, that you two will elope, have kids and retire as old people together. But it should be a possibility, right? If he’s invested in the success of his fitness studio and wants to avoid involvement, better to find that out up front, don’t you think?”

The thought of losing him already made her stomach clench, but Lark nodded. “You’re probably right.” Oliver knocked again, a little harder this time. Peeking around Berkley, Lark took in his exasperation, his dark brows pinched behind his glasses. “We should let him in.”

“Before Hero has a conniption.”

The dog really was confused, running from Berkley to the door and back again as if to sayCome on!

Mustering up a smile, Lark led the way. She unlocked the door, pulled it open and was about to greet Oliver when he spoke.

“What’s going on?” His gaze went over Lark’s face, hesitated on her mouth, then stared into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Guilt sent a flustered wave of heat to her cheeks. “I was doing Berkley’s hair.”

Berkley, bless her, struck a pose. “What do you think?”

His attention briefly transferred to Berkley, but came right back to Lark. “Looks nice.”

Beaming at him, Berkley said, “Thanks. I’m glad she added more pink.”

“Yeah.”

Snickering, Berkley said, “She’s a wizard—whoremovedthe pink.”

Dragging his gaze from Lark once more, he glanced at Berkley’s hair. “Ah, yeah. I see. It looked great either way.”

“So much enthusiasm,” Lark teased.

Aggrieved and not bothering to hide it, he dutifully turned to face Berkley again. “Gorgeous hair. Lark did an amazing job.”

“Better,” Berkley said, giving a pat to his shoulder.

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