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He straightened and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. “Hey.”

Then we just stood there, both of us gazing into each other’s eyes, for some reason. Why did it feel like we should be making out right now?

Ugh. Someone needed to turn the hose on me.

Daniel came down the steps with Alexis to save me from myself, thank God, and I introduced them.

Jacob handed Daniel the little plant he had. “Briana tells me you garden,” Jacob said. “I brought you this.”

Daniel’s eyes went wide. “A variegated Elephant Ear.”

Jacob smiled, like he’d just gotten out of a birthday party at a bar. “I propagated it myself.”

“Wow, seriously? Thanks,” Daniel said, turning it around in awe. “I know exactly where to put it. This is awesome.”

Jacob looked relieved that his gift had hit the mark and turned back to me with the puppy-dog, hat-in-hand smile that always made my face go soft.

“I’ll show you to your room,” I said, nodding over my shoulder.

He left Lieutenant Dan hopping around the yard with Hunter and followed me up the stairs. We stopped on the landing to look at the big stained-glass window.

“This is beautiful,” he said, studying it.

It was a black bear in a clearing in the woods. The sides of the window were thick green forest with trees with tall brown trunks.

“I bet this is original to the house,” he said. “Weird it wasn’t on the website, it’s so unique.”

“They built Grant House in 1897,” I said, starting up the stairs again.

“I know,” he said, following me. “I read all about it. I love places like this.”

I brought him into the second guest room. He dropped his bag on the hope chest at the end of his bed and peered around.

“This is nice.”

“Yeah.”

When his eyes came back around to mine, I was standing there in front of the fireplace with my hands in my back pockets, and again I got the urge to hug him. I was simultaneously glad that he was here while also wishing that we were at his parents’ house instead so we’d have a reason to touch.

Two days that I couldn’t even hug him. My body screamed to reach for him. I wanted to feel his warm hand in mine or his body pressed against me. I wanted to smell his skin, if only to erase the memory of Amy’s perfume from last night.

And then I felt so, so sad all over again.

Not mine.

Here with me, but his heart’s somewhere else.

Remember that.

“Hey, maybe we should post a selfie,” he said.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Good idea. We can tell everyone we’re at a romantic bed-and-breakfast.”

He nodded behind him. “Maybe we should be sitting on the bed?”

“Totally. Definitely. Let everyone think that’s where we’re spending the whole weekend.”

That’s where I wish we were spending the whole weekend…