Page 104 of The Perfect Distraction

“Like, yeah,” he said, dragging out the words like a teenager might.

She giggled but then said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Joey’s gone, and I’m not expecting any visitors. Are you?”

“No.”

“But?”

“But what?”

“What are you worried about, Beth?”

Picking at a loose thread on the hem of his T-shirt, she said, “I love being here with you.”

“I love it too.”

“And I love spending time with you and Joey.”

“We feel the same way. So, what’s the problem?”

“Being this close…feeling this way…it’ll make my leaving that much harder.”

“I hope so.”

She gaped at him and turned sideways to face him, temporarily forgetting about her lack of underwear.

His eyes went right there, but to his credit, they didn’t linger. Instead, he took both of her hands in his and gave them a squeeze.

“Don’t you get it? I want it to be hard for you to leave; otherwise, there’d be no chance of you coming back.”

She glanced down and idly rubbed her thumbs across the backs of his very capable hands.

“I don’t want to leave either. But it doesn’t make sense. We haven’t known each other for that long, and I’m already…”

She averted her eyes, but he let go of one of her hands and tipped up her chin. If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes were glistening just like hers.

“Tell me,” he pleaded.

“I’m already falling in love with you.”

He paused for just a second, as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard right, but then his mouth curved into a wide smile, showing off his perfectly shaped molars.

“Thank God I’m not the only one,” he said.

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, do a happy dance, or maybe a combination of all three. But before she could decide, he’d scooped her into his lap and was kissing her all over—forehead, cheeks, nose, and lips. She felt a tear drip out of one eye, but neither of them paid attention to it. They simply held each other close and reveled in their shared feelings.

After a few minutes, he pulled back and said, “I should have guessed when you kept spying on me!”

“I wasn’t spying!” she squealed, swatting him playfully on the chest.

“Whatever. You wanted me.”

“You’re right. I did. Almost from the beginning.”

“Almost?”

“Well, at first, I thought you were kind of…standoffish.”