Page 29 of Lakesides and Longing

She plopped a blueberry that had not made it into the batter into her mouth. “What happened this morning? I wasn’t snoring or anything, was I?”

He set down the bowl and stared at her. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Her insides went cold. What the hell had she done?

“No, but I need you to tell me.” In her place between dreams and wakefulness, she often had times where she wasn’t sure what was real and what was a dream. It’d always been like that. If she’d done something embarrassing, she had to know.

He chuckled and poured the blueberries into the bowl. “Oh no. If you don’t remember, I’m not telling you.”

Her mind raced through possibilities. “Did I drool on you?”

His lips twitched. “In a manner of speaking.”

She shoved his arm and met the hard muscle. Her mind flashed back to her dream. The one starring him and his glorious chest and abs. “Tell me what happened.”

“Give me a minute here.” He took his time and poured the batter into a muffin tray and popped it into the oven. Then he came and stood directly in front of her, placing a hand on either side of her. If they were together, she would’ve reached out with her legs and drawn him closer, but they were just friends. Or something. She wasn’t even sure what they were.

“You really want to know?”

“I do.”

“It’s going to embarrass you.” His eyes twinkled.

She dropped her eyes. “So embarrassing that you won’t sleep with me again?”

He chuckled. “No. It’ll take a lot more than that.”

She placed a hand on his chest. “Just tell me already.”

“You were sleeping on my chest this morning, and when I tried to get away without waking you, you told me to stay.”

She jerked away from him, her stomach flooding with dread. That was part of her dream. Or at least she’d thought it was. But the dream had progressed much further than just lying on his chest.

Their kiss. But it was just in her dream. Wasn’t it?

Oh no. She swallowed audibly.

“I thought that was just a dream. How far did it go?”

He raised an eyebrow. “How far did it go in your dream?”

She was not telling him that. “Uh-uh. You have to answer my question.”

He moved away from her and leaned on the counter next to her, grabbing an apple from the bowl and taking a big bite of it. “It didn’t. I told you we couldn’t do anything because of Lukas, and you pouted a bit. Then I got out of bed, and you fell asleep. I really thought you were awake. Phil and Ida have already been here, and we had bacon and eggs. I was actually making the muffins as a peace offering because I figured you were too embarrassed to face me.”

“I am now.” She kept her gaze averted. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look at him again.

He shrugged. “You shouldn’t be. For the record, the feeling is mutual, but I won’t risk my friendship with Lukas over a few weeks of good sex.”

He might not be willing to, but she certainly would.

CHAPTER20

Blake wasn’t sure what possessed him to say that. He checked on the muffins, but they weren’t done yet, so he couldn’t use them as a distraction.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make things awkward,” he said.

She smiled at him, and it took all the self-will he had not to go there and kiss her. He nearly had earlier, but he meant what he said. His friendship with Lukas wasn’t worth this. In the end, he’d lose both of them.

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