Love Inspired June 2023 Box Set--1 of 2 by Rebecca Kertz

Author:Rebecca Kertz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The next morning, the idea of talking about what it could all mean was even less appealing. Hayley hadn’t slept well. She’d been wrestling with her feelings: joy with shame, guilt with excitement.

Before they’d kissed, she had been able to enjoy her attraction to Nate without naming it or worrying too much about its implications. It had been an innocent daydream, like that of a girl reading a princess story.

Now everything was different. Now she’d tasted what it felt like to be a woman with Nate, a grown-up woman with a grown-up man.

She’d liked it. Wanted it to continue. Longing she hadn’t known was inside her had come unleashed, and she was having trouble scolding it back into its closed box.

It would have been easier to handle if they could have had some time apart, so she could bring her heart back under control. But that wasn’t possible because today was the gathering with his family, and she’d agreed to go.

She wished like anything she hadn’t. But they’d let the counselors know they’d be gone all day, and the counselors had embraced the opportunity to be in charge. It would almost be more trouble, and would definitely require too many awkward explanations, to back out now.

“You look tired,” Nate said when she got in his truck.

“Thanks a lot,” she said, deliberately grouchy. “Don’t you know that’s as much as saying I look awful?”

“I didn’t mean...” He trailed off.

“I know what you meant,” she snapped.

He winced. “Sorry,” he said, raising both hands, palms out.

“It’s fine.” But it wasn’t. She wanted to look good, not tired. She wanted to know whether he’d slept well, whether he’d dwelt on their kiss as she had.

As he pulled out and headed down the road from her cabin, she crossed her arms and studied her phone, not talking.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking. About how handsome he was, about how he’d wrapped her in his arms, about how respectful he’d been, not pushing any boundaries with their kiss.

She wanted to forget, but that wasn’t going to be easy.

After five minutes of silence, he cleared his throat. “Sometimes, when people are unsure how to handle a situation or relationship, they pick a fight,” he said. “I wonder if that’s what you’re doing.”

“Mr. Know-it-all,” she grumbled.

“If you didn’t want to come, you should have said so.”

“Who’s picking a fight now?” she asked.

“Sorry. You’re right.”

His easy acquiescence made Hayley feel guilty. “I’m sorry. I’m just...you’re right, I am tired. And I don’t know how to handle this situation.”

“I don’t either.” He sighed. “I’m not going to lie. I loved kissing you. But it was a mistake.”

His words made her heart leap and pound harder. She felt the same way, but there was a part of her that wished he was unambiguously happy about their kiss. “You’re probably right,” she said.

“We’re still friends though, right?” He reached out and clasped her fingers, just briefly.

His touch had an impact that was definitely not just friend-like. “Yeah. Of course.”

“So

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