Page 86 of Reel Love

“So, every night …”

I pick two pillows up and stack them along my headboard.

“I climb onto my bed.” I do just that, extending my legs out on the mattress.

“And I grab this book.” I hold it up like an exhibit.

“And these incredibly-sexier-than-any-fireman glasses.” I winkover at her.

She laughs. It’s a few soft chuckles, but they are nearly as sweet as her full laughter.

“And then I place these on my very rugged, marine-biologist face.” I do that and her cheeks pull up into a grin. “And then I open the book and read.”

I open the book and look at the page where I left off. Then I look up at her and she’s staring at me through her lashes.

“Yep,” she announces. “Hotter than a fireman.”

I laugh as I take my glasses off, put them back in the drawer and shut the book.

“Well,” I walk toward her. “That’s the tour of my mansion.”

Her voice is soft when she says, “It’s lovely, Stevens. Just right.”

“It serves the purpose. Oh. I also have a back yard, but it’s too dark out to show you on this particular tour. You’ll have to do the daytime one to see everything properly.”

“I’ll have to make arrangements for that, then.”

I have nothing witty to say. We’re less than a foot apart. I’m caged into my room and she’s blocking the doorway, smiling up at me. I lean in and place a soft kiss on her forehead. Then I turn us both so we’re heading back down the hallway.

We walk out of the house together and I drive Alana to her home.

She’s quiet on the drive. We’re on the hill going up from the resort toward the other side of the island when she reaches over and takes my hand in hers. I smile over at her and then return my attention to the road.

“Tonight was … unexpected,” she says as we near her home. “And … wonderful.”

“Wonderful.” I echo. “If you don’t mind leaving a Yelp review? And also, mention the whole biologists rule, firemen drool thing …”

“You’re just making me want to meet your brother. You know that, right?”

“Me telling you he drools makes you want to meet him?”

She laughs again. Then her voice softens. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For dinner. This evening. For making me laugh. For the walk on the beach. Definitely for the house tour and indulging my hot biologist in dark-rimmed glasses fantasy.”

I smile over at her. “It was my pleasure. Thank you.”

Alana’s beauty nearly knocks the wind out of my lungs. For a while, I forgot. I acted like a complete goofball. And now, we’re here at her hilltop acreage with ocean views.

Alana Graves. A voice deep within me chants her name, tempting me to elevate her above the woman who joined me for dinner and a pretty awesome date.

“This was the most fun I’ve had in a while,” she says when I park the golf cart in front of her gate.

“Me too.”

Alana opens the gate with a code and I step out of the cart to walk her to her door. It’s far later than I’d imagined it would be when this date ended. And I’m nowhere near ready to let her go, even though we both need our sleep.

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