His heart kicked hard in his chest as he nodded and fumbled to type a reply.
Connor: That was the plan!
Connor: I planned on asking you to come to dinner at my cabin.
Lexi: And I can dress casually? Like…yoga pants and a t-shirt?
“Sweetheart, you can wear whatever you want,” he murmured, but thought that might sound creepy, so he went with a slightly different tone.
Connor: That’s fine. As long as you’re comfortable.
Lexi: Then it’s a date! What time?
“Holy crap! She said yes.”
Connor: I have no idea what time the movie is, so maybe we can find out when everyone’s up here for lunch?
Lexi: Sounds like a plan.
Lexi: And thanks, Connor. I’m looking forward to hanging out with you tonight.
The hanging out part made it sound like she was looking at this as just two friends having dinner together, but then she said it’s a date, so…what was she thinking?
“I guess I’m going to find out tonight.”
Agreeing to dinner alone with Connor was not a decision Lexi made lightly. Basically, they had been spending a lot of time together already, but with the safety of their kids being around. She knew she would never know how she felt about him if she kept avoiding being alone with him.
Was she romanticizing their past? Was she holding onto her anger when it was time to let it go?
They were kids; that’s what she kept reminding herself. They were just kids. How many people truly meet their soulmate as a tween and end up marrying them and living happily ever after, anyway?
If she had to take a guess, she’d say the percentage was pretty low.
And if she were being brutally honest, she and Connor were summer lovers, so to speak. Sure, they talked on the phone a lot or chatted online, but they only saw each other during their summer breaks here at the resort. So…could she honestly keep holding a grudge because he broke her heart at sixteen?
The hurt was there, that was a given. But…it was ancient history, so the decision to move on from it and just be friends now as adults felt like the right thing to do.
Even though she was still wildly attracted to him.
Ugh…like stupidly attracted to him.
The dark blond hair, the whiskey eyes, the lean, athletic build, and that closely cropped beard…he was practically catnip.
“Or forbidden fruit,” she murmured, looking at her reflection in the mirror to make sure she looked okay. This was the third outfit she had tried on as she tried to find the balance between comfort and casual while still looking cute, and comfort and casual while looking like she didn’t really care.
Ultimately, she opted for cute with a hint of not caring.
The black yoga pants, plain white t-shirt, and long black cardigan felt like the best compromise. She touched up her makeup—only because she looked tired without it—and kept her long blonde hair loose.
Axel and Maisie had picked up Jonah fifteen minutes ago, and Connor had texted to let her know dinner was at six. That meant she had fifteen minutes to kill before walking over.
So she straightened Jonah’s room and walked around fluffing sofa pillows and wiping down the kitchen counter before she said screw it and decided to just head over. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind if she was a few minutes early.
Stepping outside, there was a slight chill in the air, so she was happy she had opted for the cardigan. It took less than two minutes to walk from her door to his, and as she stood on his front porch, she allowed herself a moment just to breathe.
This is a good thing, and I’ll finally have some clarity. We can be friends and keep things casual. I’m no longer a teenager who is ruled by my hormones.
And with that, she knocked on the door. But as soon as Connor opened it and smiled at her, her hormones seemed to kick into overdrive. He looked sexy as hell and smelled fantastic. All she wanted to do was tell him she didn’t care about dinner as she wrapped herself around him and begged to be touched.
