Page 62 of Lucky in Love
Once the chill wore off, he turned and sat with his back to the flames and took in her setup. Lantern and candles for light, fire for heat, a set of radios on the counter, books for entertainment, and Daisy for company.
“Wow. You’re good and prepared. I thought storms like this didn’t roll through very often.”
“This is all Tess,” she said, waving a hand around the room and landing on a stack of black totes. “She insists we’re all always ready for any emergency. Those totes are full of everything you could imagine. Well, except men’s clothes.”
“Of course not.” He smiled. “Anyway, over-prepared’s better than under.”
“Yep,” she said. “I’m not worried about any of my friends. In fact, Tess preemptively linked all our radios together, so I’ve already talked to everyone. All good in the hood.”
He raised an eyebrow at her nerdy colloquialism.
“Yeah, sorry. I heard it when I said it.”
The kettle whistled, and she poured hot water into a cup before dropping in a tea bag.
“You hungry?” she asked. “I have dinner leftovers or an obscene array of MREs.”
“I could eat.” He walked to the kitchen and picked up the mug. The tea wouldn’t be steeped yet, but it warmed his hands just to hold it. “This is fine though,” he said, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter.
“I’ll cut some cheese and get out some crackers.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting in on that wine.” He nodded to the half-empty bottle on the kitchen island. She pulled a glass from the cupboard and gave him a strong pour.
He took a long sip. “Oh, yeah. That’ll warm me right up.”
She sat on a stool with her own cup of tea, looking pensive and brooding.
“What’s wrong? Should I not have come here?”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Just unexpected.”
“Right. Yeah. I’m sorry about that. Once my clothes are dry, I’ll trek over to the rec cabin.”
“No. I can’t let you go back out in this. You’re committed now.”
He didn’t see that as a bad thing, but her expression revealed nothing as to what she thought about it.What the hell?he thought.
“Look, this probably isn’t the best time to bring this up…”
“Yes,” she prompted when he trailed off and stopped.
“Well, I was thinking, what if we didn’t fake date anymore?”
“That’s already the plan. We’ll take care of it after this storm business settles. I get to break up with you though. Don’t worry, I’ll be nice. You know, it’s me, not you, stuff.”
“No, I mean, what if we actually date?”
Her face froze, and then her brows knitted in confusion. “Huh?”
“You and me. Go on a date. Or multiple dates.” His timing was terrible. If she said no, they still had to spend the evening together.Dumb, dumb, dumb.He mentally smacked himself on the forehead.
“You don’t have to do that. I already said you could stay here tonight.”
“I know I don’thaveto. I’m saying I want to. Would that be so bad?”
“Um. I guess not?”
Oh, man, he was an idiot. “You’re not into it. I get it. It’s okay. Forget I said anything.”
