Page 36 of Lakesides and Longing

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The restof the afternoon passed quickly, and Paige couldn’t remember ever having more fun with a group of women. They all got ice cream and sat at picnic tables in the park while they waited for the guys to come back from wherever they’d disappeared to.

Bethany nudged her. “You know, we’ve had a lot of fun with you around. Maybe we should make your presence permanent.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means, there are still single men in our group. You could fix that,” Anna said with a giggle.

Paige blushed, but didn’t respond. Lukas would never let it happen.

“Let’s see who could we hook her up with?” Liz mused, tapping her lips. “Seth is still too immature for a real relationship, and David too serious. Grayson would work.”

Tess snorted. “You know Blake’s been staying at her place this summer.”

Anna almost dropped her ice cream. “What? No way. You and Blake? How did I not know about this?”

“No, it’s not like that. He needed a place to stay, and I needed some help around the house. Lukas thought it would be a good idea. It’s worked out well. I enjoy his company, but we’re just friends.”

“Oh my word. That explains lunch. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. I thought that was weird. I never thought he’d give up on the idea of going back to Debbie,” Anna said.

“Yeah, he turned up at our place a couple of months ago, completely heartbroken,” Mia said.

Yeah. Because of Debbie. “I’m telling you we’re just friends.”

A dog ran up and leaped on the bench of the picnic table. Mia grabbed her collar. “Sera, no. Get down.”

Paige swiveled in her seat. The guys were all heading their way, dogs in hand, except Sera, who had somehow escaped.

Jessica waved her hand at Blake. “You’re telling me that you aren’t attracted to that.”

Anna snorted. “He’s the best guy I know. You should at least try. All of us would love to see him settled and happy.”

This was all too much for Paige. It was one thing for her to be nursing a massive crush on Blake. It was quite another for all of them to be in on it. Jessica crossed her arms. “As long as it’s not with Debbie.”

“Amen, sister,” Anna said.

She wanted to ask more about Debbie. Blake had told her the story, but she’d bet her house that he left things out that these women knew, but before anyone could say anything else, tan and brown noses were sticking themselves into the bowls of ice cream.

Blake stood on the other side with Hayden and Anna, but his eyes were on her.

CHAPTER26

Blake knew he was being obvious. But damn if he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Paige. Not to mention that every second he was away from her, he wondered what she was doing.

He didn’t really care what Lukas thought anymore. After this trip, he was going to tell Paige how he felt and then let the chips fall where they may. He had to stay away now though because he didn’t want to cause a fight during their trip.

He fell to the back of the crowd as they hiked up to Fort Mackinac and he kept Tria from entangling with the rest of the dogs.

Anna tucked her arm in his. “How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure? Because you didn’t tell me about Debbie. I’ve called you three times and you haven’t answered a single one. Let alone called me back. You’re living only a few hours from me, and you didn’t bother to invite me up to see you.”

She pouted.

“I’m sorry. I just…it was too much. You and Hayden are so happy and the twins. I just didn’t want to bring you down. I’d already done that to both Tristan and Mia and Lukas and Tess.”

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