Page 8 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

“Never told them.”

He balked.

“Do you think I’m crazy?”

“Crazy? No.Badass—hell, yeah. You’re amazing, Gloria Kowalski.”

I felt my face blush. Compliments always embarrassed me. “You’re not so bad yourself, Blake Parker.”

He smirked one of those panty-dropping smiles that you just knew made it impossible for people to say no to anything he wanted when he flashed it. I couldn’t say no and he hadn’t asked me for a thing. “I bet they regret neglecting you about now. I’d regret it, but then again, I couldn’t see myself neglecting you, Glory. Their loss is my gain.”

Did he really just say that?Blake Parker, where have you been all my life? You are so good for my ego.

When we finished dinner, he took me dancing. And no ordinary club would do for him—oh no. He took me swing dancing. I’d never gone swing dancing in my life. He and I basically copied the moves from the other dancers. Some were successful, some ended hilariously bad, and one move… He tried to swing me up over his head but I got scared and pivoted in a weird way. Blake lost his grip on my waist and I landed on my butt.

“Shit, Glory—are you okay?” To his credit, he didn’t laugh. I’d have laughed if my bottom didn’t smart so much. To recap, my butt and my pride hurt, but otherwise, I’d live.

“Everyone is staring. Help me over to a table, please?”

Blake used both my hands to pull me up and he held me close while steering us toward the seating area. I winced the whole way, every step reminding me of what happened when I got too much in my head, which happened more than I cared to admit.

“You want to sit?” he asked.

Looking between the seat and my bottom, I decided, “Maybe I should stand for a bit.”

He slid onto a chair and waved down a server, ordering us two saisons. I guess I never thought about the French brewing beer. Come on, they were renowned for their wines. By the time the server returned with our drinks, I’d decided to give sitting a try. When my bottom hit the seat, I knew I had quite the significant bruise back there. The saisons she delivered tasted crisp and dry with a citrusy tartness. And it foamed like nobody’s business causing me to sneeze when I went in for a drink. I liked it. I liked everything about this date aside from the fall.

We stayed out way too late. Then he walked me back to the hostel. We walked slow. I rested my head against his shoulder. He kept his arm around my waist. The past two days meant everything to me. I couldn’t remember having more fun with another person.

Finally, we stopped outside on the lawn, he spun me to face him, holding both my hands in his as he stared deeply into my eyes. I held my breath.

“I was thinking of heading out tomorrow,” he started. “There’s this festival in Norway that I’d like to see.”

My face fell as my heart sank. “Oh, okay.”

“No, Glory… what would you say if I asked you to come with me?”

“You want me to come with you?”

“Only if you want to, but more than you know.”

I smiled stupidly big. “Then I’d love to go.”

He didn’t smile stupidly big. His face grew serious. “I want to kiss you now, Glory. Please say that’s all right.”

“It’s al—” That was as much as I got out before his lips descended andholy crap! The man knew how to kiss. We were talking the mind-blowing, life-altering kind of kiss that one generally read about in romance novels. Blake Parkerromance novelkissed me in front of the hostel.

“Wow,” he said once we’d broken apart. “You know you’re stuck with me now, considering you kiss like that.”

“It wasn’t me. It was you. You’re the one with all the skill.”

“Guess I need to prove it was you,” he said before kissing me a second time and no, it was definitely him. He made my pulse race. My tummy dipped. My toes curled.Iwas stuck withhim? Other way around there, fella. “’Night, Glory,” he finally said as he lingered by holding on to my fingers until the last possible moment.

There was no way that I walked inside. I floated. It was the only explanation.

Sleep. Who needed it? I spent the rest of the night thinking about those lips. The next morning, I showered and dressed, then checked out early. He already waited for me outside in the same spot he’d kissed me last night, looking up when I opened the door, catching my eyes. The dimple made an appearance.Heaven help me.

Blake and I opted to eat on the train. Since he’d asked me out, he bought the tickets. And the next thing I knew, we were on our way to Norway. Coffee, croissants and various pastries started our adventure off.

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