Page 75 of A Whim and a Prayer

He studied her through a squint for several seconds before he gave a curt nod. “Agreed. Reluctantly, mind you, but we’ll do it your way for now if that’s what you want.”

“I do. For now.” She hesitated, almost afraid to continue. “And then one more thing?”

He dropped his hold, shaking his head as he scraped a hand down his face. “For crying out loud, Winnie—what the devil do you want now?”

She chewed on the edge of her lip, voice timid. “Can you …”—a knot ducked in her throat—“can we … try dating other people?”

“What?!” His arms dropped to his sides. “Are you crazy?”

She placed a hand over his heart. “No, I just think if we both date others, maybe it’ll help reset our friendship—either snuffing out an attraction that was never meant to be or …” She swallowed hard, barely able to push the words off of her tongue.

“Or what?” He watched her closely, his hand reaching to cover hers on his chest as if it had a mind of its own despite the scowl on his face.

She gulped. “Orrrr … confirming that maybe—understand, just maybe,” she said in a hoarse voice, never for a moment believing it would be true, “maybe we are …m-meant to b-be.”

Shock flared in his eyes which quickly turned to heat. He moved closer to slip his hands around her waist with a crooked grin. “I sure like the sound of that …”

She slapped a hand to his chest. “But you have to give me your word, Campbell, that you will seriously date, not just bide your time, understood?” He scowled, and she quickly cupped his chin in her hands. “You once told me you would never lie to me, Beck, and I know you won’t, so I want your promise now that in this month apart, you will not only date, but you will truly give it your all, honestly focusing on each girl as a prospective love interest.”

“Aw, come on, Winnie, you’re being ridiculous ...”

“No, Beck, I’m not,” she said with a heft of her chin, knowing full well that he could have his choice of any other girl he wanted. “I never want to stand in the way of you finding your true love and me mine, so please just humor me and promise you will seriously date other girls for this entire month.

A frown puckered at the bridge of his nose before he steeled his jaw. “Okay, Dennehy, on one condition.”

Her mouth went dry. “What?”

“That we seal it”—his gaze dropped to her mouth—“with a—”

She was shaking her head even before his last syllable found air, the mere thought of another kiss sending shockwaves of heat through her body. “No, Beck, that’s ridiculous—”

“No more than me dating others when I’m in love with you, Winnie. But if I’m willing to do that and promise I’ll really try, you should be willing to grant me this one last request …”

“No …” She tried to back up, but his arms caged her in.

“Yes, Winnie—or the deal is off.” He stood and stepped away, the absence of his arms chilling her to the bone. “Because if I’m going to give up my dream of romancing you, Dennehy—even for a month—I want to make good and sure you know what you’re giving up too.”

He fished his gloves out of his pockets and put them on, his tone and face steeped in resolve. “So … what’s it going to be? A kiss goodbye for a month, or seeing me two times a week for dinner after Jewel’s chess lesson or any other time my stubborn heart desires?”

She bit her lip, fingers pinching her arms inside the sleeves of her coat. Heaven knows she didn’t want to kiss him because every time she did, it was just that much harder to see him as a friend, which is what he was counting on, no doubt.

A frown buckled her brow. But if she didn’t, he’d be around all the time, making it all the harder to purge this bothersome attraction from both of their minds. She drew in a fortifying breath before blasting it out again in a noisy exhale of frustration, arms braced to her waist. “I never knew you could be such a mule, Campbell.”

A twinkle lit in his eyes as he moved in close, sitting back down to slide his arms around her once more. “That’s because I was never in love with you before, Dennehy. Now that I am, you don’t get to run the show—or me—anymore.”

She huffed again and squeezed her eyes shut. “Well, let’s get it over with then.”

She waited … pulse pounding and breathing even worse.

And waited.

And waited.

Her lashes lifted to see him studying her with a truly annoying smirk. “Well?”

He grinned. “You act like I’m trying to feed you poison, you little brat.”

“You are,” she said with a firm lift of her jaw. “So let’s get it over with, Campbell, shall we? I have a poker game to get back to.” She squeezed her eyes shut tight once more and waited, almost seeing that lazy grin that always managed to tumble her stomach. At least lately.