Page 27 of How to Lose a Lass

"Wouldn't that make me Aidan's sister?"

"Not at all. But if you marry him, you could be my sister-in-law. Even better than honorary sister."

She glances at Aidan.

Don Juan blows out a big breath. "I'm sorry. Won't happen again."

I clear my throat. "Yeah, me too. Sorry."

Calli shakes her head at us. "I suppose we will accept your half-assed apologies."

Jamie glances at me and winks. "Aye, we will accept it."

I really, really want to make it up to Jamie. Not sure how to do that. But I can't leave without making things right with my sister.

She waves a hand at me, as if she read my mind. "Go. Take Jamie to dinner, make out with her in the car, whatever. You're adults, and we---" She aims a pointed look at Aidan---"will not interfere. Will we?"

"You have my word."

I walk up to my sister. "Calli, I am sorry for being such a jerk."

She gives me a slight smile. "I know you're sorry. Let's forget about it."

I claim Jamie's hand, leading her out the sliding glass doors. Once we're out of earshot and eyesight of Calli and Aidan, I stop to ask a question. "What would you like to do now? Go out to dinner? Have a picnic in the yard?"

"Would you show me that hunting cabin where you've been sleeping?"

"Sure thing. But it's not much of a cabin. There are no real amenities, just bare floors and a tiny bathroom. I've been bunking on the floor with just a sleeping bag. It's well-padded but still counts as roughing it."

"Dinnae care. I'd like to see it anyway."

"All righty, then."

We leave the yard and begin ambling down the path that leads to the cabin. But we keep glancing at each other at the same time, repeatedly, and smile too. Soon, we're picking up the pace, almost jogging in our zeal to get there and be alone again. I look at Jamie, and the way her hair flies around her face and her smile has become a brilliant grin, gives me a feeling I've never felt this strongly before.

I think I'm happy. And it's all because of Jamie.

Chapter Ten

Jamie

By the time we reach the cabin, we're both breathing so hard that we can barely speak. Maybe we hadn't needed to sprint all the way here. But we couldn't wait, so excited to be alone again that we would've run for miles to get here. Every time Gavin grinned at me, I felt as if my feet had lifted off the ground like helium balloons.

But we have a wee problem.

I study the structure before us. "This is the hunting cabin? It's in a tree."

"No, it's attached to the tree. Technically, it's a deer blind. But Calli told me that the guy who built this blind wanted more than a place to squat while he waited for deer to wander by so he could shoot them." Gavin waves up toward the wee structure. "He decided to live here too."

As I gaze up at the so-called cabin, I twist my lips into an expression that probably conveys my skepticism. "Are you sure the 'cabin' will hold us? It won't break and come crashing down on us? I dinnae care to become a human pancake."

"I would never let that happen to you." He clasps both my hands, facing me. "I've slept here since the day I arrived in Michigan, and I'm a lot heavier than you are. If this thing was in danger of collapsing, I wouldn't have brought you here."

"Aye, I know that. But I do have a slight issue with heights."

He chuckles, though the sound is full of affection. "Don't worry. I'll help you get up there. The cabin has stairs. They're around the side, where you can't see them."

"No ladder?"

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