Page 43 of Raised On It

Getting under my skin seems to be his thing.

Journal, the thing is, I like getting under his skin too. I love that he noticed my shirt. And I really love that he loves making me roll my eyes.

While I sat at the kitchen table, as instructed, he proceeded to make us pancakes. Amazing pancakes. Even Lou got one, hold the butter and syrup, of course.

After a quick thirty minutes, they were gone. Only the smell of pancakes and the burn of his kiss on my cheek left behind.

At noon, he was back, and this time we went to his parents’ house.

Yep, you read that right, Journal, his parents’ house.

Again.

His mom had lunch waiting for us, and we had a nice easygoing meal complete with her famous potato salad.

When we first walked in, I was anxious, wondering how exactly this was going to go, but it only took two minutes before I was relaxed and piling food on my plate. There were no funny looks from Mitch or Krista to make me feel like I was the new woman in their son’s life.

They talked to me as though they had known me for years, asking me to grab the iced tea out of the fridge and bring it to the table. They were warm and friendly and, just like my pancakes from this morning, amazing.

They talked about how harvest was going, Ken’s brand new baby boy, and argued over why Krista couldn’t give Lou his own sandwich.

On the way home when I told him how sweet I thought it was that hewas making Ken take time off to be with his family, he said he didn’t mind covering for him at all but that he hated that it meant he got less time to take me on my tour. I told him that was sweet too, but I did understand, and I didn’t need him to show me around every day if he didn’t have time.

I swear if we had been acting out a scene in a film, the music would have soared and the heroine would have touched her hand to her heart going all gaga because his reply was epic.

“You may not need to see me every day, but I sure as hell need to see you every day. Time with you has become a necessity.”

He needed to see me every day.

Being with me was a necessity.

For real.

That is what he said.

I keep wondering if I am having delusions of grandeur or if I’m actually just having the longest, best dream ever?

But when his lips linger on my cheek a little longer than usual when he says goodbye and the feel of his hand on the small of my back gently pushes our bodies against each other, he all but confirms I’m not out of mind just yet.

I am awake and not living in a perpetual dream state.

Only this feels better than a dream ever could.

For the rest of the afternoon, I was useless. I didn’t get anything done, knowing I was going to see him six hours later.

I tried, I really did.

I went for a walk, then tried to write but ended up doing some online shopping instead. Every outfit I brought with me to Oregon had been tried on while I prepared to see him for dinner. In the end, I went with a pale pink floral maxi dress. I felt good in it, and it’s important I feel good in my own skin around him because one thing I know for certain is that my insides will be off-kilter all night.

After putzing around Katie’s place for what feels like days, my nerves that were balancing on the edge of combustion all day have me jumping out of my skin when the roar of his diesel engine shakes thehouse. The knowledge of his arrival caused my already overexcited heart to do a flip in anticipation.

Journal, you know I wanted to run to the door and tear it open, but I waited for him to knock. I didn’t even let myself look out the window to take a peek, but I sure wish I had because I would have had a second or two to prepare myself. If I had, I wouldn’t have audibly gasped when I pulled the door open.

The embarrassment of my gasp was well worth it when he gifted me with one of his smiles that said he knew I liked what I saw, and knowing this seemed to make him feel as good as I did.

It was only the second time I had seen him without a hat, and it was like looking at a different person. Just as devastatingly handsome but a more sophisticated version with a short hairstyle that appeared to have just enough product in it to give it a little lift and style. A short-sleeved black button-down was tucked into tight dark jeans, and Miles being Miles, he still had on his work boots. And to top it off, from behind his back came a small bunch of wildflowers.

All it took was a couple minor changes to his wardrobe, and he went from hot farm boy to…well, to sexy farm boy.

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