Page 45 of Falling for the Guy Next Door

“What’s that?”

“You’re only here until October. Then what? Am I supposed to turn off my feelings and wave at you as you drive off in your truck … with my, I mean,yourdog?”

I took hold of her hand. “How about we worry about that when we get there?”

She bit her lip for a second. “I’m not good at that, but you know what? You’re right.” She stopped and pointed at me. “Then you better turn off some of that charm, so I don’t fall head over heels for you, because if you leave in October, I’m going to be really mad. No broken heart, right?”

We reached the tiny park, and Rocky, always a creature of habit, trotted right over to the squirrel tree. We stopped under its shade. I wrapped my arm around her back and pulled her closer. “I can’t promise anything, Layla. All I know is I want to be with you, and I haven’t said that to anyone … ever.”

She reached up and touched my face. I pressed my cheek against her hand.

“You know, I didn’t eat salsa at all today,” she said.

“That is the best invitation for a kiss I’ve ever heard.” I put my hands on her face and lowered my mouth to hers. The kiss would have gone on longer if there’d been a squirrel in the tree to hold Rocky's attention, but there wasn’t, and as I held Layla, she was suddenly yanked away by my dog.

“That almost felt personal,” I joked as we gave up on continuing the kiss to follow Rocky. “I think he did it on purpose.”

“I’m blaming it on the squirrel. He should have been in the tree,” she said.

We reached the end of the road and hung out there for a bit while Rocky sniffed anything he might have missed yesterday. “If I do show up tonight,” Layla started, “we’ll have to play it cool and just act like neighbors. I’ll tell Emily soon, but I need to find the right place and time. I hope you understand.”

“I do but it’s going to be hard putting on the neighborly expression when I’ve got this on my mind.” I wrapped my arm around her back and pulled her closer. This time Rocky gave us a respectable amount of time for a decent kiss—until a squirrel dashed across the road.

“Oh!” Layla gasped against my mouth. “He’s loose,” she said frantically.

Rocky had returned to his squirrel tree. He was occupied, so I took advantage and kissed her once more. “This time, the squirrel was the good guy,” I muttered and then kissed her once more for good measure.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Layla

If only Emily hadn’t sent me four fashion photos, so I could help her dress for the night. If only she hadn’t called me twice to let me know that she planned to stand up close to the stage again, so I should bring earplugs if I was worried about the noise. If only she hadn’t picked me up ten minutes early and come to the door with an eager, starry-eyed expression and the wordsNash Ledgerleaving her lips three times before we even got to the car. For some reason, I’d hoped the highly improbable would happen, and Emily would have gotten over her crush. I couldn’t blame her though. I found my own crush on Nash was growing exponentially.

I’d dressed down for the occasion with shorts and a tank top. I hoped not showing any enthusiasm for the night would throw her entirely off the trail. Pretending to mostly ignore Nash was not going to be easy, especially if we were standing up near the stage, but I’d been working on my poker face in the mirror for a few minutes before Emily arrived, and I was sure I had nailed a good one. I needed every tool in my arsenal tonight. I was nowhere near ready to tell Emily what was happening. I was still holding onto hope that she’d lose interest in him.

“We’ve got to hurry. Remember how crowded it was last weekend? I don’t want to stand in the middle where he can’t see me. Our last spot was perfect.”

I sat in the passenger seat. “Except for the speaker giving us both a headache and you nearly ended up having a panic attack.”

“Don’t ruin the night with your predictions. Quick, knock on something wooden,” she said as she searched for something wooden in her very un-wooden car.

I reached over and knocked three times lightly on her head.

“Very funny. I was in the same spot on Wednesday, and it went fine.” She’d been exuberant and excited, then suddenly, she slumped in the driver’s seat and put on her best frown. “I forgot how that night ended.” She looked at me. “Please try and turn off the Lovely lights, so you don’t blind him from seeing me in the crowd.” She pulled out onto the road.

I laughed. “I’m sorry. What are the Lovely lights?”

“Oh, please, those are the blinding lights that shine in everyone’s eyes whenever one of the Lovely sisters is in the room.”

I stared at the side of her face as she kept her eyes on the road.

“That might possibly be the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said, and that says a lot because as I’m sure I don’t need to remind you—but I most certainly will—you were the girl who asked the high school biology teacher if they took the frogs back to the pond once we were through dissecting them.”

Emily leaned her head back with a laugh. “Mr. Grant was barely able to hold it together. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.”

“Very wishful.”

“Poor frogs,” she said.

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