A Wedding on Lilac Lane by Hope Ramsay (best book clubs .txt) 📕

little puff of air. “I’m so sorry. Are you really itchy?”

“Yes.” He fought the urge to scratch his chest, but if he was going to be completely honest, his itches weren’t limited to the bug bites. He had a powerful itch for Ella McMillan. And she had almost scratched it right before their parents had caught them in the act.

Was this itch wrong? He thought about it as he gripped the steering wheel in an attempt to keep his hands away from the bites throbbing all over his torso.

No. He could honestly say that having a little crush on Ella McMillan wasn’t wrong at all even if she was his father’s fiancée’s daughter. They weren’t siblings. Not really.

But pursuing this would undoubtedly become awkward for everyone.

“I’m sorry you got bitten,” she said in a tiny voice that reminded him of her grandmother.

“It’s not your fault. Why do you do that all the time? Apologize for things beyond your control.”

She didn’t answer for a long time. He didn’t expect her to. But he wanted to stop the car, take her by the shoulders, give her a good shake, and then kiss the daylights out of her. That might not be the right approach though.

Damned if he knew what the right approach might be.

“You know,” she finally said a few moments later, “I think I just got in the habit of saying I’m sorry.”

“Why? Because your mother was so difficult?”

She settled back into her seat with a short laugh. “You have the wrong idea about Mom. I never really apologized to her. I went out of my way to make her feel crappy. I was horrible to her when I was a teenager. We had some serious control issues. No, I didn’t apologize to Mom, or even tiptoe around her the way you think I did. I resented the hell out of her and let her know at every turn just how much. And you know what? She kept coming back. Loving me in spite of my terrible behavior.”

“Oh.” A weird emotion seized him. She may not have apologized to her mother as a teenager, but she was sure doing it now. All the time.

“I got in the habit when I was living with Cody,” she said after a moment.

“Oh?” He wanted to press, but he knew better than to start asking detailed questions about her ex. She would resent it the same way he would resent questions about Lauren.

“Cody made me feel responsible for his moods,” she said, “and I took the easy way out. I got tired of arguing with him. It was such a waste of time.

“So okay, I’m not responsible for your bug bites, but I do feel sorry for you.” Her voice warmed. “You must be a lot sweeter than I am, because I don’t have a single bite anywhere. That seems a bit unfair.”

“Actually, the bugs aren’t attracted to sweetness. It’s because of the amount of carbon dioxide and heat my skin gives off. More heat, more bug bites.”

She turned in her seat, just as he turned onto Harbor Drive. In a moment he’d have to choose whether to turn left toward Howland House or right toward home. He wanted to take her home. He wanted to finish the kiss.

“You do give off a lot of heat,” she said, her voice an invitation.

“I want to take you home,” he said.

She exhaled sharply. “And I wouldn’t mind going home with you, but surely you can see how that would be a huge mistake.”

“No, actually, I don’t.”

“We’d have to hide what we’re doing. My god, we were almost caught tonight. I can’t even imagine the crap storm that would happen if Mom and Jim found out we were sleeping together.”

“Why would there be a crap storm?”

“Uh, well, because there would be.”

“I’m not so sure. I mean, they want us to be friends.”

“Friends, not lovers.”

 “I don’t see the problem.” He came to the stoplight where he’d have to decide—right or left.

“What if they break up?” she asked.

“Then there’s no problem at all.”

“Oh my god. You are such a guy. Of course there would be problems. Emotions all over the place. And we’d never be able to get together as a family. I mean, what about Christmas and Easter?”

“Like Easter was so great this year.”

“You know what I’m talking about. And what if we—” She abruptly stopped speaking.

“What if we what?”

“Never mind. Us being together is a terrible idea, Dylan. We need to cool it.”

“Do you think we can?” he asked, just as the light turned green.

The car behind him honked. He ignored it as he stared into her big, expressive eyes.

“I don’t know. But we need to. We can’t rock the boat.”

“Rocking the boat is exactly what I want to do.”

The driver in the car behind them laid on the horn.

“Dylan, please.”

He gave up and turned left toward the inn.

When he reached the parking lot, he killed the engine and helped her carry the cooler and the picnic hamper into the kitchen. Once he’d left it on the countertop, she walked him back to the front door. A group of B&B guests were hanging out in the library, so he couldn’t grab her by the shoulders and kiss her the way he wanted.

Ironically, though, he still had a reason to spend time with her. He gave her a smile. “So, I guess we’re back to the drawing board on the engagement party, huh?”

She met his stare. He wasn’t stupid. He saw the desire in those big eyes of hers. When she’d spread that aloe gel on his back, it had turned them both on. One bucket of cold water—in the form of parents with bad timing—was not sufficient to end this thing.

He would live to fight another day.

“Yeah, but I’m completely out of ideas. You tell me. What’s the most romantic place in town, and do they have a party room?”

He stood there slightly thunderstruck. “Jude St. Pierre’s schooner.”

“What?”

“It’s the most romantic place in town. Everyone pops the question