Page 124 of The Perfect Distraction

“Wow!” Colton exclaimed a few minutes later when she answered the door.

“You like?”

He shook his head. “I love. And I’m not just talking about the dress.”

He opened his arms, and she melted into them, leaned her head against his chest, and breathed him in.

All too soon, he pulled back and said, “We should probably get going before the restaurant fills up.”

Nodding, she took her handbag off the counter and followed him out the door.

“How did it go with Joey this afternoon?” he asked as they drove toward Petoskey.

“Good. Sad, but good.”

“I’m glad you had a chance to spend some time with him before you left.”

“Me too. I only wish it could have been more.”

Colton reached his hand across the console, and she clasped it, enjoying the warmth and comfort it gave her.

She sighed. “This is going to be a tough weekend.”

He nodded. “Let’s try not to get too down, okay? I really want to enjoy the time we have left.”

“The time we have left.” Why does that sound so ominous?

The City Park Grill was in a historic building that once hosted such famous guests as Ernest Hemingway. In fact, there was a statue of him near the building, and Colton insisted on taking a picture of her standing next to it.

“I feel a little silly posing by a statue,” she said, laughing.

“Come on. Your students will get a kick out of it.”

Colton snapped a few pictures on his phone and then showed them to her. “You look beautiful,” he said sweetly.

Smiling up at him, they entered the restaurant and were shown to a table with a park view. Over the summer, she’d revisited places she’d already been and discovered a host of new places too. And visiting those places with Colton and Joey had enhanced the experiences even more. Her heart was bursting, and she beamed at Colton, whose head was buried in the menu.

“Do you want to split something?” he asked without looking up.

“I love you,” she burst out.

Lowering the menu, he gazed at her with surprise, not at the words but at the sudden outburst. They usually reserved their declarations of love for when they were alone.

“I do. I love you, and Joey, and Harbor Springs, and I don’t want to leave. I don’t.”

Colton smiled then, the full-out, eye-crinkling kind of smile that she loved.

“I love you too, Beth, and so does Joey.”

Just then, a waiter walked up and said, “Good evening and welcome to City Park Grill. Have you been here before?”

“I have, but this is my girlfriend’s first time,” Colton said smoothly.

“My girlfriend.” She loved the sound of that. Right then, she was in love with everything except the thought of leaving.

“Ah. Well, allow me to make some recommendations.”

The waiter rattled off the house specials while Beth and Colton grinned at each other across the table. At that moment, she didn’t care what she ate as long as it was with him.