Page 83 of Make Her Mine

I look up at the one festival ride we have not done. “How about the Ferris wheel?”

The Ferris wheel is something of a special tradition in Sapphire Falls. Everyone knows that when a single guy takes a single girl on the Ferris wheel, it’s a sign to everyone else that their relationship has gone to the next level. If he kisses her on this Ferris wheel, it is a public announcement to the town that they are serious and exclusive.

“I don’t know. Should we do that? We are still just pretending,” she says.

I really want to kiss her on the Ferris wheel. I really want this to not be pretend. The next time I’ll be able to kiss her on that Ferris wheel is a year from now.

I want things to be very serious by then.

That thought hits me and I’m not surprised.

“It will look strange if we don’t,” I say. “Zach has probably been watching to see if we do it.”

Using Zach is probably unfair but I don’t feel even a twinge of remorse when she says, “You’re right. We should definitely ride.”

We get in line, and I slip my arm around her, keeping her against my side. She slides her arm around my waist as well.

There are people in line with us, so I’m shocked when she looks up at me and asks, “So, you liked the begging in bed last night, huh?”

Heat rocks through me and I inadvertently tighten my hold on her. I look down, my brows up. She has a mischievous smile on her lips. That makes me glance around.

I realize that Allison and LuAnn are behind us in line. This little brat.

Okay. Fine. She started it. I don’t even have to make this up. “I like it a lot,” I tell her. “You know I love when you beg me to…” I make a point of looking around, then dropping my voice. “...do that thing you love.” I don’t drop it so low that Allison and LuAnn can’t hear me though.

Harlow’s cheeks get pink.

And she can’t fake that.

I want to know what she’s thinking so badly.

“And I will always deliver on that, Lily,” I say, lifting my thumb and tracing it over her lower lip. “You don’t really have to beg, you know. It just makes it hotter.”

She opens her mouth, then shuts it.

I look straight ahead, grinning.

She is absolutely wondering what she begged me for last night.

And I’ll happily tell her. But not with an audience.

We step up and take our seat in the next bucket. The attendant locks the lap bar into a place and then we are lifted into the air so that Allison and Lu can get on.

And as soon as we are dangling above the platform, Harlow asks, “Okay, what did I beg for?”

I look at her. “Do you really want to know?”

“I cannot believe I was so asleep that I don’t remember this. But yeah, I need to know.”

She looks like she’s bracing for the worst. Honestly, I was surprised by her request as well. She was sound asleep on the couch, I nudged her and spoke to her, trying to get her to wake up enough to walk upstairs. But she simply curled up tighter and rolled over to face the back of the couch. I had debated leaving her there for the night, but in the end, couldn’t do it. Not when I had two perfectly good beds upstairs. Of course, I had to debate myself over which bed to put each of us in. In the end, I’d decided to mess with her a little. Sleeping next to her had been torturous, but also worth making her wonder about.

“You asked me to touch you,” I tell her. It’s the truth.

Her eyes widen. “What do you mean? What did I say?”

“I tried to talk you out of it,” I say. I will never not enjoy messing with Harlow Hansen. “I told you to go to sleep. I told you that you would not appreciate it in the morning when you found out. But you were insistent. You told me you wouldn’t be able to sleep until I did it.”

Her cheeks are bright pink now and her gaze drops to my mouth. That’s interesting. She’s certainly not acting disgusted.

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