Page 118 of The Cabin

“Two and a half weeks ago? When he said he was waiting on parts?”

He’s half shaking his head yes and half shaking his head no. “Mmmm. Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Yes.”

I tap my fingers against the counter. Why is he pretending to be so aloof?

“What does that mean, Grayson?”

“Like…that’s nottechnicallywhat he said…” At this point he’s looking anywhere but me. It would be cute if he wasn’t being so annoying.

“So, what did he say? Word for word. Verbatim. In English.”

His teeth shred his bottom lip for a minute. Big, dejected sigh. “Uh. Verbatim? He said…” another pause, “He said something like, ‘Grayson! How’re you doing? Still liking it up here?’ ’’

“Oh my god! Andthenwhat? Skip to the car talk.”

He blows a very long breath out of his lips. “So, if I can remember correctly I think he maybe said, ‘Car’s all set. Cash or card?’ ”

I do a double take. “Sorry, uh, what did you say?”

“He said your car was done…”

“Two and a half weeks ago?”

“Yes.”

“So, you lied about it?”

Pregnant pause. “...yes.”

I’m sure the face I’m making is absolutely dumbfounded. “Why?”

He mumbles his first answer and I can’t hear a word he says. I stare at him expectantly.

“Because I didn’t want you to leave yet.”

My eyebrows knit together and I deflate a little, walking over to slide my arms around his waist. “You didn’t want me to leave yet?”

“No.” I feel him wrap me up and pull me into him.

“Why?”

“Because you weren’t in love with me yet.”

My head rears back. “You knew you were in love all the way back then?”

His smile is gorgeous. “Not quite. But I wanted the chance to fall.”

THIS MAN. “When did you know?”

He doesn’t even hesitate. “The diner.”

“Really?”

Nodding, he kisses between my brows. “When you sent the banana bread away and then made me tip twice our bill.”

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