Page 30 of An Unexpected Home

He wanted to laugh but instead, stepped aside. “Do you want to come in?”

Her eyes blinked several times like she wasn’t sure how to answer and she stayed still.

“Leah,” he said her name loudly.

“I’m kinda afraid.”

“Afraid?” he asked. “Of me?”

“Afraid that if I step through that door, I’m going to go back on my promise to myself and date you.”

He remained calm. On the outside. His insides though, they were doing a happy dance.

“Just come in and we can talk.”

“What if,” she started and then stopped. “What if I want to do more than talk?”

His mouth went dry and he swallowed hard. “We can discuss all options.”

She walked through the door and he closed it behind her. He watched silently as she moved around his living room and into his kitchen where there were huge windows that overlooked the lake.

“Oh my God, this view!” She exclaimed. “It’s amazing.”

He walked up behind her and stared out at the lake over her shoulder. “It is pretty spectacular.”

She gasped, when his chest brushed her back. “How long have you lived here?”

“I only just finished building last year, but I lived on the property the whole time construction was going on.”

She turned, facing him. “You built this?”

“It took a while and I had some help, but yeah.” He held her gaze until she slipped away and started wandering around again. “Can I see the rest of it?”

He nodded. “Sure.” He took her on a tour and her enthusiasm and obvious joy settled his nerves. The thing she seemed to love the most was his huge wrap around porch that could be accessed from almost all the rooms.

“This is like a dream house,” she said as they stood on the porch and looked out over the lake. “Do you have a boat?”

“I do,” he said. “It’s in storage right now, but I’ll pull it out in the next few weeks.”

“You’re so lucky to be able to live here.” She wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Are you cold, we can go back inside?” The weather was mild but the wind coming off the lake made it chilly.

“I really love it out here, can we stay?”

Coming up with a quick plan he said, “Stay here and I’ll be right back.” He quickly jogged to his room to grab a t-shirt for himself since he was still bare-chested and he also grabbed two sweatshirts. Then he pulled a blanket off the couch before finally grabbing two beers from the fridge. He had no idea if she drank beer, but since he didn’t have any wine, it would have to do.

He found her lounging in one of the Adirondack chairs. “Here, put this on.” He handed her a sweatshirt. “And I brought you a beer if you want one.”

She stared at his outstretched arm that was holding the sweatshirt. “You brought me a sweatshirt?”

“Yeah I didn’t want you to get cold.”

“You brought me a sweatshirt,” she said again with an emphasis on the word brought.

Worried that he’d done something wrong, he asked, “Is that bad?”

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “He brings me a sweatshirt and he’s worried if it’s bad.” He had no idea who she was talking to since it was only the two of them out on his deck.

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