Page 120 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
“Oh, I know it’s real.” I wouldn’t let her get away with trying to convince me the butterflies inside me weren’t genuine. “If I’d suddenly become attracted to you after my, um, should I say meltdown, then I’d understand your apprehension, but it started earlier than that.”
“When?” Robyn shot back.
“Another thing I’ve been trying to figure out.”
“It’s that hard?”
“It is because Emma had you picked out for me from the start.” Robyn’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. “That’s why I’ve wracked my brain to figure out when it happened.”
“And your conclusion?”
“Last weekend. When we went out with the group. I kept seeking you out. I didn’t care if I was with anyone else. It was you. You don’t understand how irritated I was when they horned in on you or how relieved I was when you returned to us. It felt like a date, albeit a weird one since we were with twenty other people.”
Robyn smiled. “Yeah, there was that.”
“Afterwards, I wanted more of your time.” I picked at my fingernail. “Honestly, I can trace it to our kayaking trip. After that, I was disappointed when you weren’t our instructor.”
“But what—”
“No, before you go on. When did you know?”
“I didn’t. I mean, until that dance in the forest, I’d convinced myself it was just a friendship.”
I tried to bite back my grin, but my eyes twinkled.
Robyn pointed at my face. “Just say it. I see it in your eyes.”
“I thought you were the enlightened one that had this shit figured out.”
Robyn threw her hands over her head. Her exaggerated mannerism made me smile. “I know. That’s why this is fucking me up so bad. I haven’t a clue what possessed me in the forest.”
“Do you regret it?”
Her gaze locked on mine. She didn’t speak for some time. Finally, she said, “No. I want to tell you I do, but it’d be a lie. That’s hard for me to accept. I did things I wasn’t supposed to do. Felt things I shouldn’t feel. And to top it all off, I don’t regret it.” Her eyes blazed. “What have you done to me, Blake Saunders?”
I smirked. “Shouldn’t the question be, what do I want to do to you?”
“Stop.” She held up her finger toward me, but her smile gave her away. “Even if I concede I didn’t violate any trust, you’re only here for two more weeks.”
“Aren’t you the one that taught me to let go of control?”
Robyn let out a low growl. “I hate it when my words come back to haunt me.”
I smiled. “Can’t we just enjoy the next two weeks together?”
“No strings?”
“No strings.”
“We’re doing this, aren’t we?” Robyn said.
“I hope so.”
She studied me for several beats before she said, “We take this slow.”
I nodded. “Can I kiss you?”
“Yes.” She pointed at me. “But that’s it.”
