Page 64 of Flirty Fall Fling

“Oh, you want me to be your hurrah?”

He leans in, running his fingers through my hair, and whispers in my ear, “I can be yours too.”

I pull away, and in the mirror, Jamie rises slowly and sets cash on the table. Then he walks toward the door with his shoulders set. My phone buzzes against the bar.

Jamie

Game over. Outside. Now.

“Sorry. I’ve got to go. My friend is having an emergency,” I tell Cole, sliding off the stool. “Thanks for the drinks. It was nice meeting you.”

“Can I see you again?”

I shake my head. “Go get your girl.”

“Thank you,” he calls after me, sweet and confused, already turning back to his bourbon.

The cold is intense after the warmth of the bar. I walk down the sidewalk and find Jamie waiting in the dark between the streetlight and the wall. When I reach him, he doesn’t say anything. That’s how I know. The act is gone.

“That was barely an hour,” I say. “The deal was, you’d watch all night.”

“I couldn’t handle five more minutes of that guy touching you.” His voice comes out rough.

“So, we’ve learned you do get jealous.”

“I usually don’t. He almost kissed you, Blaire. I was about to beat his fucking face in.” He lifts his hat and drags a hand through his hair.

“I wasn’t going to allow it to get that far,” I explain.

He narrows his eyes. “You read his palm. You said you didn’t do that.”

“It’s not my specialty, Jamie. I wasn’t lying when I told you that.”

He lets out a breath. “I have a new rule for the season,” Jamie says.

I study him.

“No one else. Not during our fling. I know what you said last night about dating other people, and I can’t do it. You being with someone else is off the table, or we end it here.”

I take a step forward and grab his hand. “I’m not dating anyone else. I barely agreed to this arrangement. But you do need to search for that person who’s meant for you, Jamie.”

“No. Until Halloween, it’s just you and me.”

I stare at him, wishing I could read his mind. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Why?” he asks.

“Because this can’t be anything more than what it is. You’re leaving in November. I need to focus on establishing myself in Pine Haven.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he says, and my heart stutters.

“Not yet,” I tell him, and he pulls me closer.

“I need to have you all to myself. Is that asking too much?”

The seriousness on his face causes a chill to rush over me. I close my eyes and listen to my intuition.

Give him a chance.