“I’m not cute,” I grumble. He’d better think I’m more than cute if he wants to date me.
“You’re ridiculously cute, you gorgeous woman.”
I allow myself a small smile. “Okay, I can deal with gorgeous.”
Randall lets out a belly laugh that vibrates all the way through me. “Dang, I love you.”
My heart pounds as I slowly angle my head to look at him. Did he mean it, or was he saying it flippantly?
“Excuse me?” I say. “That’s not taking things slowly.”
His eyes widen when he realizes what he said. “I mean I love you as a friend!” Those baby blues open even wider at that proclamation. “I mean … oh man, am I messing this up.”
“Please continue.” I’m not sure what I want him to say, but I do know I want the truth about how he feels. “Let’s see how much farther you can stick your giant foot into your mouth.”
Randall takes a long breath. “Wendy O’Halloran.”
“Yes, Randall Hamilton?”
“We’ve been friends for a while, right?”
“Right.”
“And I love you like I love a friend.”
My entire body tenses.
He adds, “But …”
“But …”
“… I’d like to see if maybe someday I might love you as more than a friend.”
My heart beats frantically as I pat his cheek and attempt to appear calm and collected. “You finally came around to it there in the end. But you might need to kiss me to make up for declaring your love for me prematurely.”
He cocks his head to the side. “Okay, one kiss.”
I perk up. “Really?”
Before I have time to prepare, he rapidly closes the few inches between our faces and pecks me on the nose.
“There. Done.” He gives me a silly grin.
“Ugh, I hate you!” I swat his chest, and he presses his hand against mine to hold it in place.
“No, you don’t. You love … I mean youlikeme. A lot, I hope.”
“The jury’s still out on that,” I lie.
“That’s a little concerning. As a lawyer, I know how fickle juries can be.”
He tickles my side, and I shriek as my body automatically jerks away from his touch, but he keeps a firm hold on me and continues tickling me as I flail around trying to get away from him while not really wanting to get away from him.
When we settle down again, I ask, “If we can’t kiss, can we still cuddle?”
“I think so.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You think so? Why don’t you know so?”
