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“My mother,” Blake jumped in. “Linda. Momma, this is Lauren Keller.”
“Are you two seeing each other?” Momma asked point-blank.
Lauren looked at him, and he looked at her. She clearly needed to take the lead on this. She faced the group again and said, “We’re still deciding. But he’s going to take me to breakfast tomorrow, and the wedding on Sunday, and then we’ll see.”
“You’re going to the wedding with him?” Bea asked.
“She replied with a plus-one,” Cass said. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I thought Joy was her plus-one.”
“Please stop,” Lauren said in a stern tone. She flicked a glance at Blake, who didn’t want this to be embarrassing for her. He put her chair down in the empty spot next to Joy and set it up for her. As he did the same for his, Lauren drifted away from him to chit-chat with her friends.
He met Harrison’s eye, and the man raised his eyebrows. Blake didn’t know what to say to his silent question, so he simply sat down and asked, “How’s moving the outdoor kitchen coming?”
Harrison let out a long sigh. “It’s not,” he said. “I think Cass and I are just going to end up building a new one at her place.”
“Your back patio will look like it’s lost its teeth if you remove everything,” he agreed.
“Yeah,” Harrison said. “When I get back from my honeymoon, I want to come see about taking some money out of my life insurance.”
“No,” Cass said from the other side of him. “I told you we didn’t need to do that.”
Blake wasn’t going to get into the middle of that discussion, and he looked up at Lauren as she moved in front of him. She sat next to him and set her bag down, then busied herself with getting something out of it.
He turned to his phone and tapped out,I can’t wait to go out tomorrow. What’s your favorite breakfast food?and hit send.
Her phone chimed loudly from next to him, and he couldn’t help watching her for her reaction as she read the message. Her smile came quickly, and her fingers practically flew across the screen.
She hit one final button, then tucked her phone under her leg.
His phone chimed, and he grinned at her. She reached over and covered his hand with hers. “Guess,” she said.
“Your favorite breakfast food?”
Her deep, dark eyes glittered, and Blake could only think about what emotion they’d hold as he leaned closer and closer and closer…and kissed her. She nodded slowly, her perfectly painted red lips curving into a glorious smile.
“Uh, let’s see.” He could barely think at all right now. “I’m going to go with…quiche.”
She shook her head. “I’m from Texas.”
“Chicken and waffles?” he guessed.
She giggled, one of her braids falling over her shoulder and providing a hint of red to her otherwise blue outfit. “I do like chicken and waffles, but that’s a bit heavy for breakfast, don’t you think?”
“I think it’s a good time for fried chicken any hour of the day.”
“You would.” She reached over and took his hand in hers, and Blake sure did like being claimed by her. He settled his fingers between hers, enjoying the buzzing, sparking feeling moving up his arm and into his shoulder.
Like fireworks, he thought, dusk settling around him. Yes, everything about Lauren Keller reminded him of fireworks, and he would only be lucky if she got close enough to burn him.
* * *
A couple of days later,he stood on a wide front porch, pillars reaching up to support the roof two stories overhead. The doorbell finished ringing, but no one had called or come to the door yet.
He wore a black tuxedo, complete with a bow tie and tails, every piece of it trimmed in shiny satin. His shoes could reflect his own image back to him, and Blake had taken plenty of time that morning to make sure his hair sat just right, and his cologne wasn’t too over-powering.
His mama rode in the backseat of his SUV, and as soon as Lauren came to the door, he’d help her into the front.
