Page 14 of Home to Me

Sam was one of the two ski pros at Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures. The other one was her fiancé, Luke, and the two of them were still firmly in the 'honeymoon' phase of their relationship, even though they hadn't yet gotten to the actual honeymoon. Which is to say, they were pretty much obsessed with each other.

Sam smiled a dreamy, twitterpated smile. “Oh, you know,” she said. “We do manage to get a thing or two done now and again. I love working with him, getting to be around him all the time. All day long, I feel like there's this electric current running through me.”

“That's lust,” Lauren informed her with a small grin.

Sam got a knowing look on her face. “Well, you would know,” she said.

Lauren looked puzzled. “Excuse me?”

Sam’s lips turned up in mischievous smile. “Hottie Host Boy sure seems taken with you, and—sorry, Laur, but it's true—you seem awfully taken with him as well.”

Lauren crinkled her forehead. “First of all, if you define 'taken with me' as treating me like the hired help, then yes, I suppose he is quite taken with me. And as for me being taken with him? Well, I'm not even going to touch that statement with a ten-foot pole, except to say that you are dead wrong.”

“Whatever,” Sam smiled serenely.

“Sam, he’s arrogant, condescending, and has no respect for other people’s time. Do you honestly think that is the kind of man I would be attracted to?” Lauren knew that she might be painting herself into a corner, but she absolutely did not want her friend to turn this into something it wasn’t. Especially now that Ben was going to be in town for the next two weeks.

“Let’s see. Tall, dark, handsome, successful, obviously not intimidated by you, and more sparks flying between the two of you than the Fourth of July.” Sam looked up as if she were giving it serious consideration before looking back at Lauren. “Ummm, yeah. Yep, I abso-freakin’-lutely think that’s the type of man you would be attracted to.”

Internally, Lauren had to admit that Sam made some decent points. But there was no way she was going to admit that out loud. She realized that there would be no use in further attempts to get Sam to come around to her side in this argument. Regardless, she couldn't stop herself from at least giving it one more shot. When she opened her mouth to try, however, she saw Sam glance just over her shoulder at something that caused a sly smile to creep across her face.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Sam said quietly, and Lauren felt tingles run up and down her neck.

Before she could turn and confirm her suspicions of what—or rather who—Sam noticed over Lauren's shoulder, she heard Ben's smooth voice from just inches behind her.

“Hello, ladies,” he said, approaching the table and, just as casually as you please, placing his hand on Lauren's shoulder.

She wanted to be irritated at his intrusion. Or, at the very least, unaffected by it. But she just couldn't seem to muster up any kind of frustration or neutrality over the competing sensation raging through her—butterflies.

Butterflies?! She was so not a butterflies kind of girl. But there it was. Undeniable.

Without being too obvious about it, Lauren twitched her shoulder just enough so that Ben's hand was cast off of it. From the looks of the smile on his face, however, he seemed completely unaffected by this small rejection.

Ben sat down at their table, taking the empty chair.

“Oh, please. Feel free to join us,” Lauren deadpanned.

“Thanks. I think I will,” Ben replied smoothly, as if she’d been utterly sincere. “Those sandwiches look delicious. I believe I will go and get myself one. Be right back, ladies.”

And with another flash of his brilliant smile, he disappeared inside Two Scoops, joining the queue of people waiting to be served.

As soon as the glass door to the ice cream parlor shut and Ben was safely out of earshot, Lauren turned to Sam and, in a harsh whisper, said, “Seriously? Who does he think he is? No one invited him to sit with us, and why does he think he has the right to touch me? Did you see him with his hand on my shoulder? Not okay.”

Sam was quietly amused. “Was it really though? Was it really not okay?”

Lauren badly wanted Sam to see her side. With conviction, Lauren began, “It was so…presumptuous, so…familiar...”

“So hot,” Sam finished.

Lauren shook her head, and Sam—who’d been giggling softly through Lauren's diatribe—burst out laughing.

“I don't see what's so funny,” Lauren said demurely with a raised eyebrow.

“Your face,” chuckled Sam. “If you could’ve seen the way you flushed when I said it was hot... Oh wait. Just grab a mirror. You're doing it again!”

Just then, Sam's phone chimed and she brightened visibly, pulling it out of her pocket.

“It's probably Luke,” she chirped happily, swiping at her phone. Her grin spread even wider at the information her fingers uncovered. “It is!” she trilled, laughing as she then read the text. Sam beamed as she happily shared, “He loves to text-flirt, all throughout the day. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. I found out that I can actually be sassy if I try.”

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