Page 21 of Paging Dr. Summers

“You’re going to need to be more enthusiastic than that if you plan to win,” I goaded him.

He let down his guard a bit and gave me a half smile. “I’m not worried about winning.”

Oh, dang, did that sound a little sultry? The butterflies in my tummy sure thought so, for how they fluttered. They needed to knock that off. Logan and I weren’t interested in each other romantically.

“You should be.” I sounded far more confident than I felt.

Logan grinned and inched closer to Sophie.

Jake looked between Logan and me, his eyes narrowing. “You guys are going down,” he said, like we were all back in junior high. He must have known it didn’t come off well, since he immediately looked down at his shoes.

I felt bad for him, so I said something just as silly. “If you could have any mythical creature as a pet, which one would you choose? I would totally get a dragon. Like a cute pink miniature one.”

Sophie giggled while the men gave me stares that said,Do you really expect me to answer this?

Yes. Yes, I did.

“I want a fairy who will sprinkle me with fairy dust so I can fly,” Sophie said with all the joy she could muster.

“That’s a good one.” I gave her a one-arm squeeze. “Gentlemen?”

Jake’s face twisted as if he were thinking too hard.

Logan sighed and shook his head at me, but he answered, “A griffin.”

“Why?” I had a theory that people often chose the animal or creature most like them. Like I wanted to be a miniature pink dragon because I wanted to be fierce but cute.

Logan scrubbed a hand over his face before saying, slightly disgruntled, “Griffins are noble and protective.”

Yep, just as I suspected. I had a feeling Logan was both of those things. I saw it in the way he was with his sister and niece. And even how he’d anxiously made sure I hadn’t hurt myself when he was teaching me how to paddleboard.

“Nice pick, Logan.” Crap, had that come out sounding flirty?No flirting with your neighbor, Brooke,I reminded myself.

“Unicorn,” Jake blurted with bravado, before he spluttered, “I mean sphinx.”

“I love unicorns,”Sophie sighed.

Personally, I loved a good unicorn too, but I was guessing a tween girl approving of his choice wasn’t going to do much for Jake’s ego.

“I love them too.” I nudged Jake, who was now beet red.

Jake stood taller, hoping to redeem himself. “Sphinxes are cool because they’re a lion and a human.”

“They are,” I sang, trying to sound positive even though his answer was a little on the weak side.

A bout of silence crept in as we moved up in the line. As much as I wanted to fill it, I was wary of asking any other silly get-to-know-you questions, lest they, too, ended in disaster.

Jake’s phone buzzed loudly in his pocket, punctuating the silence.

He fished his phone out of his jeans. “Sorry, I have to get this. It’s probably the store. Saturdays are always crazy in the summer. I’m normally there.”

I hadn’t realized he was taking time off to be at the Strawberry Festival. When I mentioned I was planning on coming today, he’d readily agreed to take me. It was sweet he’d taken the time off to do so.

“I totally understand.”

Jake walked away and stood near one of the giant strawberry inflatables to answer his phone.

Logan frowned at him.

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