Chapter Fourteen
Kristen had just taken off the robe when her phone buzzed in the robe pocket.
Crap.
She plucked the phone free, hoping like hell it wasn’t Paul again. When he’d sent that text while she’d been in bed next to Blake, she’d damn near gone into a panic.
A glance down showed it wasn’t him, though, but her brother. That same invite to James’s house Friday that Blake had gotten.
She opened the text and sent a quick, Sounds good.
While her messages were open, she glanced again at the one from Paul, and her stomach clenched.
Hey. Saw the pic of you on Instagram. Damn, Krissy, you clean up nice. When do you get back? We should meet up. I miss your face and have been thinking about our conversation the other day… Maybe you were right.
She went to reply, but her fingers hovered above the buttons without moving.
What the hell was wrong with her? That was a flirtatious text from Paul. He’d basically stated he wanted to give dating a try. It was everything she’d been hoping to see in a text from him.
But right now? How freaking annoying. She was currently in Blake mode, not Paul mode. She was in Seattle, not Vegas. And why did it take a pic of her dressed up to the hilt, with guys in the background, for him to take notice?
With a clench of her jaw, she set the phone on the counter and went to shower.
*
“So how didyou make it to twenty-two without doing the nasty?”
They’d been along the rocky shores of the beach for a half hour or so, having light conversations, when Blake asked the heavy question.
Oh boy.
Kristen sucked in a slow breath of salty air before letting it out again as she decided how to try and answer that without sounding too lame.
“You were on to something when you told me to fall in love first. That’s what I wanted,” she finally admitted. “To be in love the first time.”
Instead of laughing or looking shocked, he just nodded. “I get it.”
“Do you?” They were walking so close her hand brushed his, and she pulled it away, flushing. “I think I’ve always just been a romantic and wanted it to mean something.”
He glanced her way with an apologetic smile. “And you ended up with me.”
The light wind lifted her hair as she glanced up at him. “I have no regrets, Blake. If that’s what you’re implying.”
Maybe it hadn’t been for love, but it had been for pure potent attraction and maybe even a slight crush that seemed to be getting bigger by the minute.
“What made you decide to go for it?”
The guy who I thought I was in love with had a rule against dating virgins.
Yeah. No way would she admit that aloud.
“It was time.” She shoved her hair back over her shoulder. “I was curious and felt like I was missing out.”
“Do you think you were?”
She gave a nearly silent harrumph. “If I’m judging by the last twelve hours, then yeah. I missed out.”
“You’re good for my ego.”