Page 28 of Lakesides and Longing

This kind of intimacy was new to him, and he was not supposed to be intimate with her at all.

Time to get up. Before he let his mind wander to other things he’d like to do with her.

He shifted his weight and slid a couple of inches to the left, but the hand on his stomach suddenly came to life. She clawed lightly at his skin.

“Don’t go,” she muttered.

Holy hell he was in a world of trouble.

CHAPTER19

“Are you even awake?” Blake asked.

Paige shimmied herself closer to him, pressing her chest into his bare ribs. She was awake, but still a little brain fogged from sleep. She wanted to stay right here in his arms for a bit longer.

“I am.”

“And you are aware that you are manhandling me?”

She chuckled. “Like you aren’t loving this. I had no idea you slept shirtless.” She was trying to remember why she wasn’t open with him about her feelings, but at this moment in time, she saw no reason to.

He continued to play with her hair, and she nearly drifted off again.

“We can’t do this,” Blake said.

“Why not?” she mumbled.

“Because you are Lukas’s little sister.”

“So.” She was so warm and comfortable, she didn’t want to move. This was blissful.

“So, I don’t want to get punched in the nose for taking advantage of you.”

She sniffed. “Oh, please, we’ll just tell him I took advantage of you, which is actually more of the truth. I lured you to my bed, and then, how did you put it? Manhandled you.” She chuckled at her own joke.

He slid out from underneath her, and she pulled the pillow he was using into her arms instead. She inhaled. It smelled like him. He left without another word, and she fell back into a deep sleep.

* * *

Paige wokewith a start and grabbed her phone. It was after ten. She never slept that long. She scrambled out of bed and jumped into the shower. Getting a full night’s sleep was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.

She was glad Blake had agreed to help her, even if the situation was a little weird. Somehow she’d ended up on his side of the bed, and his scent was all around her. It was musky and manly with a hint of that cologne he always wore. He’d starred in all her dreams the night before. She blushed as she thought of them.

She didn’t know what she would do at the end of the summer when he left, but she didn’t need to worry about that now. She had another eight weeks. Eight weeks of glorious sleep.

She brushed out her hair, pulling it into a ponytail, and threw on a tank and yoga pants. Then she jogged down the stairs.

Blake was in the kitchen, and he smiled at her. “Hey, you’re awake. I nearly came up there to check if you were still alive.”

She hopped up on the counter and sat, facing him, while he put flour and eggs into a bowl. Before she knew him, she’d never pegged him as someone who baked, but his blueberry muffins were to die for. She’d told him so yesterday.

“I slept amazingly. Thank you. I have more energy today than I’ve had in weeks.”

He chuckled. “Good. I slept much better last night than I had on the couch.”

“It wasn’t too weird?”

He looked down into the bowl where he was stirring the batter. “With the exception of this morning, no, it wasn’t too weird.”

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