I Saw Her Standing There Read Free Page B

the lake.
    Regretting that he’d embarrassed her, Colton wiped his hands on a dish towel and went over to her. When he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck, he noticed how tense she seemed. “What’s wrong, Luce?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Come on. I made a joke and you went all tense on me. Talk to me.” He encouraged her to turn and face him and was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “Lucy . . . What’s wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you. I was only joking.”
    “I know you were, and you didn’t upset me.”
    “Then what is it? And don’t say it’s nothing when I can see it’s something.”
    He could also see that she was trying to summon the courage to tell him, and watching her struggle made Colton ache.
    “After last weekend, when things got kind of . . . heated . . .” She cleared her throat and looked away.
    Hearing her describe the previous weekend as “heated” made him hard as he remembered the feel of her hand stroking him. Shaking his head, he willed those memories from his mind to focus on what was happening right now. “What about it?”
    “I’m not very experienced at all of this, Colton. I know I should be at twenty-nine, but I’m not. I’ve had a few boyfriends and done some stuff, but I don’t really know a lot about, you know . . . Any of it.”
    His mind raced as he tried to process what she was saying. “By ‘some stuff,’ does that mean you haven’t—”
    “I have. A few times with less-than-stellar results.” Her face got even redder, if that was possible. She quickly added, “I’ve been really busy with my work and my family and friends. And I’m shy. Painfully, awkwardly shy. With guys.” She looked up at him, slaying him with the open, innocent look she gave him. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
    “Jesus,” he muttered as he pulled her in tight against him, not caring that she would immediately feel what her sweetness did to him. “You could never disappoint me.”
    “Still . . . You probably know more than I do.”
    “No one’s keeping score here, Luce. Least of all me. I told you before—we don’t have to do anything. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not looking to pressure you.”
    “You haven’t pressured me. You’ve been amazing and very patient.”
    He kissed her forehead and looked out at the lake as he held her. “I hate that you’ve been stressed out about this. You should’ve told me.”
    “It’s embarrassing.”
    “It’s endearing.”
    “It’s
embarrassing
.”
    “Fine,” he said, laughing. “Have it your way, but don’t be embarrassed around me. I think you’re amazing, and I love being with you.”
    “I love being with you, too, but . . .” She looked up at him. “Before this goes any further, I feel like I should say again that I’m not going to move, and I understand that you can’t either. Just because Cameron did—”
    “I get it. What worked for them won’t necessarily work for us.”
    “I don’t want anyone to get hurt here, Colton.”
    “Neither do I. Let’s just have fun, like we have been, and not let it get too serious. Okay?”
    “All right . . .”
    “Why do I hear more questions in there?”
    “I just wondered . . . If not getting serious means not getting
serious
.” Her coy smile was positively adorable, and he couldn’t refrain from smiling back at her.
    “Doesn’t that count as fun?”
    “I suppose it could. It’s never been particularly fun for me.”
    “Oh, honey, we need to fix that.”
    “Right now?” she asked hesitantly.
    “Whenever you want.”
    “I’d love to take a shower.”
    “Follow me.” He took her by the hand, picked up her bag and led her to the spacious master bedroom that was located down a short hallway from the kitchen.
    “This house is so beautiful. I can see why you love it here.”
    “We all do. We’ve had some really fun times here. You’d be surprised how this