Page 63 of A Whole New Trick

“Let me make one thing abundantly clear, Morgan. This.” I motion between us. “Thisis not a fling. Not by a long shot.”

Her eyes widen. “It’s not?”

“No,” I say, then hesitate. “Not unless you want it to be?”

God, please don’t let her want this to be a fling.

She presses her lips together. “I’m not sure.” The words are a knife to the gut. “This all happened quickly. I haven’t had time to think about it.”

“This has been months in the making,” I contradict her words. “I’ve wanted you since I saw you at Carter’s, and that never changed. Not even after I thought you gave me a fake number.”

Remorse flickers over her expression at the reminder of the miscommunication between us.

“But we work together now.”

“And we’ve already told the Ranchers about our relationship when we started the fake dating ploy,” I remind her. “The only thing different now is that we’re really together.”

“So… are you saying we’re dating?”

“Yes.”

She blinks, surprised by my blunt response. Then, her embarrassment fades, and a mischievous grin tugs on her lips. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

“You agreed when you came on my face last night.”

“Dane!” Morgan gasps and looks around to make sure no one hears me. Seeing the other couple eating in comfortable silence, the tension in her shoulders fades, but she narrows her eyes on me. “Language.”

I laugh. For such a confident woman, she sure does get flustered by the mention of sex.

I put my amusement aside and acknowledge this is an important conversation. Morgan is right; communication is key to any relationship, especially a successful one.

And I have every intention of making this a successful relationship.

“Morgan.” I dip my chin to encourage her to meet my gaze.

She licks her lips. “Yeah?”

“I’m crazy about you,” I say with no preamble. “I have been for a while. Last night wasn’t a fling for me. I want you to be my girlfriend.”

“You do?”

“More than anything.”

Her timid smile is adorable. “Well, that’s a relief. Because I want you to be my boyfriend.”

I never knew such simple words could make me so fucking happy.

I stand and plant my hands on the table, leaning forward to kiss her. Morgan leans forward and meets my lips. The kiss is not as long as I’d like, but I plan to revisit it when we’re alone again.

I sit back in my chair. The server returns to take our order. I scan the menu and pick the first item that sounds good. Morgan chooses a chicken taco bowl.

When the server excuses himself to place our orders, I extend my arm over the table. Morgan places her hand in mine with a happy smile I return.

My phone rings.

I frown and lean back, sliding it out of my pocket to see the screen.

Dad

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