Page 25 of Lakesides and Longing

But he hadn’t banked on falling for her. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about her at the moment. He liked her a lot, and he wanted to see where things led.

But he still had Lukas to deal with.

The problem was, even if she had feelings for him, she was probably just looking for a summer fling. She’d told him before that she was done with long-term relationships after her husband. But Blake wasn’t a summer fling kind of guy. He fell hard, and he didn’t want to fall for another woman he couldn’t have.

He spent the morning hiking in the woods around her house while Paige holed up in her studio. Just before lunch, Paige came out of her studio with two paintings in hand.

“You’re not covered in paint,” he said. She wore a light blue blousy top that revealed her shoulders, and a long white skirt. He’d never seen her so dressed up before and his heart raced a little.

She gave him a look. “I know. Would you mind running me into town today? I’d like to get these into the gallery, and there’s a farmers market that I haven’t been to in ages.”

“Sure. Let me grab Tria’s leash, and we’ll head out.” He had taken several trips into town alone and even explored some of the lakes, but in spite of him offering, other than Kitchi-iti-kipi, she never came with.

Paige jumped into the car and buckled her seatbelt. They took off down the road, and she still clung to the seat like she was going to die. But at least she was offering to go out with him more often.

“My horoscope said I’d come into money today. Hopefully that means I’ll sell more of my pictures.” She gave him a forced grin.

“You don’t need money.”

“I know. But I like knowing my art is appreciated.” Even though it was unusual her talent was clear. He couldn’t imagine her being insecure about whether or not people liked it. But he saw her point.

“I can understand that. What did mine say?” He couldn’t quite believe those words just came out of his mouth. Oh, he had it bad.

She didn’t respond, and he flicked his eyes to her face. Her cheeks were flushed, and she rubbed at her neck.

“I didn’t think you cared about those things.” She wouldn’t look at him.

“I don’t really, but judging by your reaction, I think I have to know.”

“It said you would find true love today.” She said the words in a rush, and Blake didn’t know how to respond to that.

Then he chuckled to lighten the mood.

“Well, we are heading to the farmers market, and you never know who we’ll run into there. Maybe my true love has been hiding up here in Michigan all along. But didn’t yours say the exact same thing a few days ago? And you didn’t find your true love.”

Blake changed the subject and the rest of the drive passed quickly. It didn’t take long for Paige to drop off her paintings, and the market was right downtown.

He parked the car, forced a wiggling Tria to stand still so he could hook up her leash, and crossed the street with Paige. For a small town, the market was pretty busy.

Paige stopped dead on the sidewalk.

“What?” Blake asked.

“It’s Abby and Avery.”

Blake followed her eye line. Sure enough they were staring right at him again. He’d never understand women, but he knew how to help Paige out on this one.

He grabbed her hand and wove his fingers through hers. “Don’t mind them. We can totally act like we’re in love.”

Paige nodded and leaned into him. He appreciated it way too much. He had no idea why those two bothered her so much, but he’d get to the bottom of that eventually.

For now, the weather was gorgeous, he had his arm around a woman he was quickly falling for, and he had a market full of his favorite foods to explore.

Life was good.

CHAPTER18

The night before, Paige had managed another nightmare-free sleep. This was incredible, but she didn’t think Blake would fall for it again. Still, she had to try.

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