Page 29 of Eighteen Bowties and Counting

“BLTs?” he asked.

“Yes.” She cut him a look and got the mayo out of the fridge.

“For breakfast?”

“Don’t you eat sandwiches for breakfast? I swear I’ve seen you make sausage and egg sandwiches for breakfast. Just last week, in fact.”

“Yeah, but?—”

She waited, but he didn’t continue. “But what? This is a bacon sandwich.”

“No eggs.” He wore a flirty smile, and oh, Charlotte could fall into that easily.

“Do you want me to scramble you some eggs?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Good.” She spread mayo on the toast and plucked a handful of strips of bacon from the pan. She assembled his sandwich quickly and slid the plate toward him. She still had to make her toast, and the bacon was in very real danger of getting burnt.

She took care of that, and then set her bread to toast. Beau waited for her to finish her sandwich and sit beside her, and then he looked her straight in the eye and said, “I’d like to go out with you. What do you think of me and you goin’ to dinner one day this week?”

He swallowed, and it felt like someone had turned the lights up in the cabin. All the way to bright white. She blinked, and the cabin settled back into normal hues.

“Oh, boy.” He chuckled. “Are you going to pass out? Did I startle you too much?”

She picked up the knife she’d used for the mayo and cut her sandwich in half. “A little is all.”

“A little?” he teased. “Don’t tell me you haven’t felt this fizzing thing between us.”

She looked over to him, and he sobered. “I mean that. If you haven’t felt it, don’t tell me. Just say no to dinner, and we’ll eat, and everything will be fine.”

Charlotte liked the way he drawled out fine, and she couldn’t keep up the stoic act. She smiled too and said, “I’ve felt it.”

Relief sagged through him. “Praise the heavens.” He picked up his whole sandwich. “I’m free any night this week.”

“As am I.”

“Then tomorrow,” he said.

“Tomorrow is fine,” she said, trying to mimic his cowboy accent. She didn’t quite make it, and he laughed and nudged her with his elbow.

“Don’t tease me,” he said.

“Oh, like you don’t tease me.”

“Well, I can’t have you fainting when I knock on your bedroom door to take you out,” he said. “Or have you going limp in my arms when I’m about to kiss you….” He raised his eyebrows, his smile glorious and filling the kitchen with light.

Charlotte’s cells vibrated with desire—and a little bit of fear. It had been so long since she’d kissed a man, and surely someone like Beau had had a lot of girlfriends.

He chuckled and said, “Okay, I won’t tease you about it.”

“How long have you been live-streaming?”

“Oh, gosh.” He exhaled and looked up and to the right. “Three years now, I think.”

“I see.”

“You could come out with me if you want,” he said.

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