“I was wondering the same thing. I haven’t dated long-distance since Ethan was in college—and that didn’t go so well if you’ll recall.” They’d argued a lot during his freshman year. Maggie felt so insecure about his being away at college. So afraid of losing him. What if he found another girl? What if he forgot about her? She was so sure he’d break up with her.
She didn’t relish the thought of going through that again.
“You guys were kids. I’d like to think we’ve both matured enough to handle any issues that might crop up. We just have to be honest with each other about what we’re feeling.”
“You’re right.”
“It’s only two hours and we’re both off on Sundays.”
“And Zoey and I could come here some weekends.”
“I’d love that—and so would the rest of the family.”
But would they love the idea of Josh and her together? That remained to be seen. She hated the thought of causing turmoil in thefamily. They should probably talk about when they’d tell his family. But Maggie was loath to spoil the beautiful day with worries about that.
“Do you think you could ever live in Seabrook again?”
Her attention darted his way even as surprise stole the words from her mouth. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she’d thought about it this summer. But she hadn’t expected him to address the subject so soon in their relationship.
He gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself.”
She laughed. “Well, we have only been dating one week.”
“Right. No, you’re right.” He glanced back to the playground, a mottled flush climbing his neck. “I didn’t mean to rush you.”
She’d never seen him blush and it was so darn cute. She put a hand over his and waited until she had his attention. “For what it’s worth, I’m enjoying every minute of it. And I realize your business roots you here. I’m dating you with a full understanding of that fact.”
“Fair enough.”
On the table her phone buzzed with an incoming call. She glanced down as Derrick’s name flashed on the screen. And now it was her turn to blush. She rejected the call, but not before Josh noticed the caller’s name. And she could see by his downturned lips that he recognized the name.
“He’s only called a couple times.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He offered her a thin smile. “Like you said, we’ve only been dating a week. We haven’t even talked about exclusivity.”
They hadn’t. But the truth was, Maggie wasn’t warming to Derrick, and the thought of Josh going out with another woman—like that pretty Amanda—pricked her with jealousy. She didn’t want to date anyone else, and she didn’t want Josh to either.
She folded her arms on the table, holding his gaze as silence rolled out between them. “Maybe we should.”
He searched her face for a long moment. “Talk about being exclusive or...?”
The radical thumping of her heart created a tsunami of thoughts. Had she spoken out of turn? Maybe she was the one rushing things now. But her feelings for him had grown more quickly than she’d ever expected. “How would you feel about that?”
His eyes lit and his brow did that quirky jump just before he broke into a smile. He took her hand. “I’d feel pretty dang good about it.”
Relief swamped her. “We’re on the same page then.”
“Same paragraph, same sentence.”
“Same word even.”
Her phone buzzed, drawing their attention. Derrick had left a voice mail.
She squeezed Josh’s hand. “I’ll take care of it this week.”
