Page 10 of Fake Hearts and Kisses

Blake looks down at me, his dark eyes soft in the dim light. “She took my breath away. When I saw her trip over her laces and fall face-first into the smutty book section, I knew I was in love.”

I smack his chest, letting out a burst of laughter. “That is not what happened.”

Blake grins, the corner of his full mouth creasing. “I saw her in the library trying to be discrete about checking out a dirty book.”

Lily sighs longingly. “That sounds like Daisy.”

Blake runs his hand over my cheek again, stopping to run his thumb over my bottom lip. Low in my belly tightens, sending a heated shiver between my legs. “Then I followed her to the little coffee house on Seventh Street.”

He what?He followed me? Something in his eyes makes me still, my eyes locked on his, that heated feeling growing hotter.

“I sat in the far corner, ordering coffee after coffee.” He looks up at my mother, “I hate coffee, by the way,” then back down at me, “But I ordered coffee until I worked up the nerve to approach her.”

Erin sighs. “That’s so cute.”

“That’s creepy,” Lily says.

“How sweet,” Amber chimes in.

“How many coffees?” Forest asks.

Blake’s eyes never leave my face. A blush creeps from my cheeks down to my chest. Did he really follow me from the library? I try to remember the last time I went to the library, but it was months ago. Was it then? Is he just making this up? Butno. He sounds so honest. It feels like he’s telling the truth, like this is a confession more than a made-up story.

“I suffered through several coffees until I was brave enough to ask her out,” Blake says.

My mother makes a little cooing sound. “How romantic.”

“How long before you asked her out?” Forest asks more directly.

Yeah, I want to know too.

Blake looks around the room as if gauging how everyone will react. He looks down at me again, kissing the tip of my nose. “Two weeks.”

Erin makes another squealing sound. “I love this so much.”

“So you stalked my sister for two weeks before asking her out?” Forest asks, a sharp edge creeping into his tone.

“Oh, stop,” Amber says and slaps his knee. She’s draped over Forest, wrapped around him like newlyweds. They’ve been married for three years, and I hate to admit I’m a little envious of how much they love each other. She squeezes Forest’s cheeks and plants a kiss on his mouth. “I remember a certain someone stalked me for almost a month before you even asked to borrow a pencil.”

Lily lets out a loud, garish laugh. She looks at Blake. “They worked in the same office for nearly a year.”

Forest rolls his eyes but remains quiet. I glance over at Blake, who has me squeezed to his side. I tap his knee, jerking my head towards the back of the lodge. Even though they liked his version of our meeting, he can’t just change what we agreed to. I excuse myself from the group, but they are already talking about something else. At the doorway, I catch Blake’s attention and motion for him to follow.

“Brown-chicken-brown-cow,” Lily sings, then makes jerking-off motions.

“What are we? Twelve?” Amber says.

Erin releases a gross cackle and joins in.

“Leave them alone,” my mother says, lightly tapping the back of Lily’s head with an outstretched foot. “If we teased you this much every time you and Kane disappeared, we’d never stop.”

I spin, my heart fluttering, and walk down the hall, looking for a private room. The first door I see, I slide in and pull Blake in with me. It’s an enormous bathroom, but it’ll do, so I shut the door and press my back to it. “What was that?”

Blake leans against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest.Damn, he’s hot. It’s like when I’m not looking at him, Iforget, then the second I see him full-on, it hits me like a ton of bricks.

“They asked how we met,” he says, his voice tight. “I told them.”

“You saw me in the library?” My voice squeaks slightly, so I take a breath. “That was two months ago.”

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