Page 88 of Blindly Yours

I slide my hands to her back, playing with the hem of her shirt, grazing her skin just barely. “I’ve got a canoe we can take out on the lake, board games if it rains…” I raise a brow. “We can have a campfire. I’ll chop us some firewood.” I already have a huge stack of it behind the cabin, but she doesn’t need to know that.

She lifts her own brow in return. “Oh, you’ll definitely receive extra credit for that.”

NINETEEN

Rose

“So, the whole weekend with him at his cabin?” Junie aligns a label carefully on one of the folders we’ve laid out on the conference table.

“Yep, he’s picking me up after work.” I pass her another.

She wiggles a brow. “So, is this going to betheweekend?”

I bite my lip and grin. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Junie sighs. “Again, I shall live vicariously through you.”

I laugh as I begin to stack the finished folders. “You know, you could remedy that…”

“And you know I will…someday.” She tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

Junie’s had a few boyfriends, but she’s very particular about who she lets into her life, and especially how far she goes with the men she’s dated. She’s still a virgin—by choice—and she says it’s because she doesn’t want to give that part of herself to just anyone. She’s been burned a few times by guys who walked away when she pumped the brakes, and sometimes she looks at her V-card like it’s a flaw, but I think it’s really commendable that she’s saving herself for someone who really matters.

I peer up at her. “Why aren’t you on these dating apps you keep suggesting to me?”

“I don’t make enough to qualify for Bloom.” She frowns. “But I…I’m actually on Blindly now.”

“You are not!” I sit up eagerly. “Are you talking to anyone?”

She shakes her head and runs her finger across the handle of her label maker. “No one interesting yet. I think you snatched up the only good one.”

“There’s a good one out there for you too, Junie.”

She slumps down in her chair and lets out a long, exaggerated sigh just as the door swings open and George strides in. He’s carrying a stack of files and checking his watch, and as soon as she sees him, she shoots up so fast she knocks her chair over and it falls to the floor with a loud clang.

He stops in his tracks, eyes wide at the sudden commotion, then he raises a confused brow. “Are you…are you alright?”

“Oh my God, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m fine.” Junie scoops her chair off the ground and rights it before running her hands through her hair and straightening her blouse. She seems to shrink in place as she peers anxiously at him. “Do you, um, need something from me?”

He stares for another moment and opens his mouth as if to say something, but he turns to me. “I’m actually here for Rose. Can you re-run these numbers for me?” He hands me a folder. “I’m completely booked today and haven’t been able to figure out why they’re not adding up.”

“Sure.” I take the folder and check Junie out of the corner of my eye. She looks like she’s about to die from embarrassment.

“Thanks.” He smiles and then glances at Junie again, who hasn’t taken her eyes off him. “You sure you’re alright?”

She waves a hand in the air and clears her throat. “Oh yes, I’m absolutely fine.” She lets out a giggle that turns into a squeak at the end.

“Good.” George nods and then gestures to me with a quick smile. “I owe you one.”

“And don’t forget it!” I call to him as he disappears out the door.

As soon as he’s gone, the tension in Junie’s shoulders dissolves and she sinks into her chair with a blank, faraway look in her eyes. It’s so painfully obvious and I can’t stop myself when I chuckle. “So, how long have you had a thing for him?”

Her eyes shoot up to mine, wide and shocked like she can’t believe I’ve found her out.

“Well, it’s not hard to tell.” I laugh again. “Want me to ask him if he feels the same?”

“Shhhh!” She lifts a finger to her lips and rushes over to close the door. “Rose, I’m so sorry! I know he’s your brother—”

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