Page 76 of Heart Set on You

“We are. I like you a lot, Rylee-Jay.”

Her smile twists into a frown. “Ditto, M.B. But a new nickname would work much better for me.”

“What? You don’t like Rylee-Jay?”

“I’m not 12.”

A laugh escapes me. “Well then, how about Princess? Or Buttercup?”

She grimaces. “Those are even worse. And if you suggest Muffin or Sweet Cheeks next, I will hurt you.”

“Oh, Sweet Cheeks. That one I like,” I tell her with a wink, dodging the napkin she throws at me.

The two of us lie together under the Deer Lake sun, her head on my chest. I listen to her breathing and wish that we could freeze this moment in time when everything is easy and a life with Riley seems possible. Filming in Vancouver will wrap in a few weeks and everything will change. Rylee will come back here to the farm, and I will go back to Los Angeles. And what it looks like from there, we’ll just have to wait and see.

So for now, I try to memorize the scent of her skin, the feel of her hair beneath my fingers, the way she fits perfectly against my side. Right now, I want to remember every inch of her and never, ever forget.

Chapter Thirty

Rylee

“You need to stop that. They’re going to come looking for us soon,” I giggle. We’re in my childhood bedroom. Miles’ arms are wrapped around my middle, my back pulled into his front and he’s kissing my neck over and over again.

He laughs into my shoulder. “Five more minutes.”

This guy. I swear.

“We are the only ones missing at our own farewell brunch. I can hear my brother and the kids downstairs.”

I close my eyes, leaning back into him, enjoying our last few minutes alone together in this little room. For four days it’s been our little oasis. Falling asleep together every night, and then waking up in Miles’ arms every morning. It’s been magic; maybe the best four days of my life.

That’s why even though I know we should go downstairs, I’m not moving. Instead I breathe him in, ignoring the sounds of my family who I know are all wondering what we’re doing up here.

“I wish we could stay here in this room for three more weeks,” he says, like he’s reading my mind.

“Did you like it here?”

Miles turns me in his arms, cradling my face in his hands, kissing me on the mouth, then the tip of my nose, then my forehead. He pulls back to face me with a look in his eyes that makes my skin begin to tingle. “I love it here. I hope you’ll invite me back someday.”

I shiver. Only Miles has ever made me shiver with just a few words. “What was your favorite part?”

“You naked underneath me in your childhood bed.”

“Miles,” I say, stretching his name into two syllables. “Did you really just say that?”

“What?” he asks playfully. “Okay, I change my mind. I think it was when you gave me that hand job in the lake.”

I burst out laughing, putting my hand onto his hard chest and pushing him backwards. I stand with one hand on my hip, the other pointing to the door. “Out,” I tell him. “Downstairs you go.”

He laughs, flashing me that Miles Bennet smile I love, completely enjoying the rise he just got out of me.

“Now,” I say, shaking my head at him with my arms crossed over my chest, mock- chastising him for his coarseness.

He turns to leave, but pauses at the door, turning to look at me.

“It wasn’t either of those times, although I loved the shit out both of them. It was sitting on the porch swing with you looking at the sky, the fireflies brighter than the moon. It was sitting around the dining room table with your family eating homemade corn bread and casseroles and listening to stories of what a do-gooder you were. And I want to do it all again with you soon.”

He disappears down the hall and I swear he takes my heart with him.

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