Midsummer Sweetheart by Katy Regnery Page A

got closer, he could see her lips were light pink and glossy, and silver bracelets on her tiny wrist made a cheerful clinking sound as she moved, which she did, from the porch stairs to his car window in a graceful little sprint, until there she was, right beside him, peeking her not-at-all-plain face into his car, little fingers holding onto the window frame.
    His whole body tightened in response to being near her again and he suppressed a groan. Lord help me if Dr. Love has anything at all to do with your beautiful smile. Lord help him .
    “ Älskling ,” he whispered, lowering his sunglasses slowly, taking in her pretty hair and bright cerulean eyes up close, trying to remember how to breathe. My God, I am in trouble.
    She smiled back, as if she could read his mind, “Erik.”
    “Katrin.” Those dimples. His breath came out in a low whistle. “Skidoo Bay agrees with you.”
    “I guess so, Minste .” She stepped away so he could get out of the car, pushing her hands into her back pockets, which drew her shoulders back and thrust her chest forward. He stared desperately at her eyes. Oh, man. Please quit it with that, or I’m not going to be able to stay focused on your face.
    He shook his head to clear it and got out of the car, leaning back against his door. She looked him up and down quickly then raised her eyebrows lightly with a teasing smile. “Looks like Kalispell agrees with you, too.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Mmm.”
    “Well, we survived our first week apart, huh?”
    Katrin looked a little surprised, and Erik stumbled to clarify his meaning. “Apart from our families . From home. From our homes .”
    She gave him a cock-eyed grin, and he swallowed uncomfortably, looking up at the clinic building. “So… Donde está Don Juan?”
    “José? I don’t know. He’s around here somewhere. Want me to get him? So you can say hello?”
    “No!” He blurted out. Sassy little thing . “I mean, no need to bother him. Maybe I’ll say hey later when I bring you home.”
    “Sure,” she grinned. “So! What’s the plan?”
    How about we go up to your room and spend the afternoon in your bed? How about that could be the plan?
    “Take a stroll? Sunday supper?”
    “Sounds good. I promised to meet José for the concert in the park at six.”
    Ouch. That stung. “Wow, really packing us in back-to-back, huh? Hope I’m not cramping your style, Kat.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Dinner with me, concert with him? Who’s your eight o’clock date, alley Kat?”
    “You’re rude!” She slapped his arm playfully. “It’s not a date . Paca—er, Gabrielle will be there too, so it’s more like a work thing.”
    Work thing. Yeah. He pictured José in his white, muscle t-shirt from last week, and felt his jaw get tight . Oh, I’m sure he’s working it.
    She raised her eyebrows again and put her hands in her pockets. “Anyway, this isn’t a date , is it, Erik? Just family friends having a bite. Basically, your weekly reconnaissance mission for Ingrid, right?”
    He looked down, kicking the dirt with a beat-up topsider.
    I have no idea.
    If she had asked him twenty minutes ago, he would have said Yes, just checking on poor, plain little Katrin for Ingrid, and it would have been the truth. But, looking at her now, so vibrant and pretty? The only certain truth was that he wanted to take her hand and spend the rest of the afternoon lost in her. Beyond that, he was lost.
    Avoiding her eyes, Erik stared at her hand shoved in her pocket for a moment before reaching out, tentatively, gently brushing her hip with his knuckles as he pulled at her wrist, slipping his fingers through hers once her hand was free. She didn’t say anything or resist him, but he noticed it took a moment before her fingers relaxed and the tips folded over to meet his knuckles. Only then did he look up at her face.
    Her eyes were serious at first but softened with a shy smile, tilting her head to the side, as if she were trying to figure him