Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I smile. Can’t help it. “It was a pretty dick move.”
“And even though I may have premeditated this night—the cabin, the dinner, hell, the fuckin’ fairy lights—they had pictures of all this on the website…”
I giggle. God, I’ve missed him.
“I don’t think I’ve earned a second chance yet.”
He hasn’t. I love him. Will always love him. But I haven’t been a teenager for a very long time. And even though he and I reconnected on the one night a year when I allow myself to be irresponsible, it’s only ever been one night a year and I’m not about to change that now.
“Wow. What is going through your mind right now?”
I shrug. “Just… I agree.”
“That I’m a dick?”
“No. Well, yeah. A little. But mostly I agree that you really haven’t earned it yet, Collin. This is all very nice—the river, and the dinner, and the cabins, and the lights—and I would love nothing more than to give us another chance. But I’m not gonna jump into anything just for a night under the sheets.”
“That’s not all it would be, ya know.”
“Maybe. I mean, I do know that. We’re more than that, even now. After all these years, we’re more than that. But I’ve got a life, Collin. A damn good one. And here’s an addendum to my answer earlier about why I don’t have a husband. I don’t want one.” I shrug one shoulder. “It’s really as simple as that. I don’t want one. Because I don’t need a man to protect me now. I’m all grown up and I can do it myself.”
He presses his lips together, nodding. “Would you like to go bowling with me?”
“What?” And then I’m laughing again.
“You know how I feel about bowling.”
“Bowling shirts, you mean?”
“See how well you know me, Lowyn McBride?” He pauses to grin here. And damn, it is a charming one. “We got in just in time to join the summer bowling league. So our regular nights are gonna be Tuesdays.”
“Are you asking me to join your team? Or do you just wanna use me for practice?”
“Join, for sure.”
“Hmm. Well, I go out of town a lot on Tuesdays so I would not be able to commit to that.”
“Our regular nights are gonna be… Mondays.”
“Mondays? Sometimes I’m packing my bags on Monday nights.”
“For Tuesday’s trips?”
“You’re catching on.”
“Our regular nights are gonna be Fridays.”
I laugh. God, this man. “I might be able to swing Fridays.”
“Then it’s a standing date, I guess. I should warn you that there is quite a battle going on in the background about our shirts and the name of our team. I think you should join in on these conversations.”
“Do you?”
“Mmm-hmm. I do. What time do you get home on Thursday?”
“Usually late.”
“Well, then I will drop by your store on Friday morning so I can prep you for the discussion that will be coming.”
“So you can tell me how to vote?”
Now he makes a face at me. “You’re joking about this stuff though, right? I’m not gonna use you, Lowyn. And I’m not gonna tell you what to do, either. But I would like to comment on something here. Something I remember about you. You did want to get married. We had plans. I’ve been gone—”
“You weren’t just gone, Collin. You walked away.”
“Right. I did. I’ve been gone, and I can see how your explanation makes sense. The part about taking care of yourself and measuring other men up to that one night. But I didn’t ruin you, Lowyn. I mean, look at you. You’re better than ever. You’ve got your own business and this interesting life. And if we keep going, then this is a complete fresh start.”
I look away and sigh a little. I don’t want to have this discussion with him. There’s so much more to the twelve years since we last spoke. It’s a long time. He’s changed, and I’ve changed, and yeah, I could fall into a pattern with him very easily.
It would feel so good.
It would feel so familiar.
But would it be the right thing to do?
I’m not sure yet.
I look up at him. “I think I should turn in now.”
He nods, then waves his hand to the path that will take us back to the parking lot.
We walk side by side, but he doesn’t take my hand this time. I hate that I had to knock him down a peg, but I’m not the woman he met the other night.
I’m the woman he met the other morning.
When we get back my hotel there’s a moment of awkwardness as his Jeep idles in front of my room door. I decide to just end it bluntly without a promise of anything else. “Thank you. It was a nice dinner, Collin. And thank you for driving all this way just to see me.”
His smile is still there, but it’s sadder than it was. “It was my pleasure. Now, about that dognapping job…”