Page 45 of Lakesides and Longing

“So are you?”

He let out a breath. “Yeah. I am.”

She thought for a moment. She didn’t want him getting all freaked out by all of this. “I’ve never had a summer fling before. This should be fun.”

Blake gripped the steering wheel and he frowned. “I’m not really a summer fling kind of guy. I’ve told you this before. If that’s what you want, maybe we should just stay friends.”

“So what do you want?” She wanted him to say it.

“If we’re going to do this, I’m going all-in.”

Paige sat there stunned for a moment. She hadn’t expected such a declaration. She just kinda figured they’d kiss at some point, and things would go from there.

“What do you mean, you’re all-in?”

“It means that I have no intention of leaving after the summer is over. It means that I can finally sleep naked again. It means that if you want to make it official and become one of the wives, I’m down.”

“Did you just propose to me?” she squeaked.

He laughed. “Oh no. That doesn’t count. I can do better than that.”

CHAPTER32

Blake hadn’t meant for everything to come out like that. He’d been thinking about how to tell her all the way home, and he’d planned on making a nice dinner and then telling her how he felt.

But after she’d told him how she felt about him, he couldn’t help himself.

“So what about you? Are you all-in?” he asked.

“I thought I’d made that clear.”

“No, you just told me you wanted my body, not necessarily everything that goes with it.”

She smacked him on the shoulder. “I did not.”

“Ow. Yes, you did.” He chuckled. He wasn’t sure how this had happened. But living together could do that to people. They’d grown comfortable with one another, and life was easy with her. He enjoyed it.

“I want it all. But maybe a better proposal.”

“You’ve got it. Remember that when it happens, you asked for it.”

“I will.”

How had this happened? They hadn’t even really kissed yet—the grocery store did not count—and here they were talking about the rest of their lives together.

They both went quiet for the next several miles. He wanted to reach over and take her hand.

“What are you thinking about?” Blake asked.

“That we’ve gone and made this awkward again. I mean, do I hold your hand or not? When we kiss, is it going to be all weird and forced? And if you climb into bed naked tonight, I promise it’s gonna be weird.”

He chuckled.

“I won’t. But listen, let’s just let things move naturally. If we don’t kiss for several days, that’s fine. It’ll come when it comes. Both of us are a little out of practice. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

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