Faked - Karla Sorensen Page 0,62

to talk about?"

"Is it weird if I told you about guys I dated?"

"That's not the same."

My head tilted. "Why not?"

He sighed. "Well ... you're like ... girlfriend material, you know? Every parent in the world would be thrilled if a guy brought you home."

Ahh. "And you're not boyfriend material?"

Bauer licked his lips before he answered. "I wouldn't know."

"Hmm, well, let's see." Regarding him with a thoughtful expression, I waited until I saw his expression soften a bit. "You're not terrible to look at." He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, so I kept going. "You are an excellent dancer." My fingers trailed along the top of his hand. "You open doors and make pancakes. You shovel pathways in the snow." I picked up that hand and pressed a kiss into his palm. "You wake me up in the sweetest, sexiest ways. And you make me feel beautiful."

Bauer looked over at me, and what I saw in his eyes slayed me completely. "You are beautiful," he said roughly.

"You make me feel amazing just by being you, Bauer." I kept my voice even, despite the way my stomach fluttered nervously. "If that's not boyfriend material, I don't know what is."

The man next to me stayed quiet, but I saw the strong column of his throat move on a slow swallow.

"Everyone has a past, Bauer. It doesn't define who we are moving forward." I gave a small shrug of my own. "So I won't hold your past against you if you can promise to do the same for me."

He tangled our fingers together again. "So I won't imagine some ripped book nerd in your sociology class mooning over you because you guys dated for five years. Because that would probably do the same cute pouty thing to my face as yours just did when you talked about snow bunnies."

I laughed. "Seriously, you're such an ass."

As he grinned, I felt my stomach flip weightlessly again.

Some ripped book nerd. No, I hadn't dated one of those for five years, but in my head ... one had taken up residence for even longer. If Bauer and I stayed together, and oh, my heart wanted that so badly, I'd eventually have to admit my harmless crush on Finn and how that played a role, but I knew this wasn't the time.

The feeling of suspended reality that we'd enjoyed at the cabin still lingered in the Jeep. We drove through a winter wonderland so beautiful it didn't seem real. I was with a man who gave me the kind of butterflies I didn't know existed—like sex-crazed, I want to stay in a bed with you for a week and pluck every deep thought out of your head because your head is just as fascinating as your body kind of butterflies—and I wasn't ready to pop that bubble just yet.

My gut screamed at me over whatever logic my head told me to just ... keep my mouth shut about Finn.

Finn didn't even know, so there wasn't even really a secret to be brought out into the open. It was just, something I used to feel. Something I'd gotten over.

"What's waiting for you when you get back?" he asked.

I smiled, happy for the change in subject. "Family dinner. We eat at Logan and Paige's every week. It's loud and crazy and ... perfect."

"All right, princess, tell me about them. Any group of people who make you smile like that, I've gotta know."

Turning slightly in my seat, I took a moment to gauge his facial expression. Because his eyes were covered, I couldn't get a true read on him, not really, but the rest of him looked relaxed and happy. Interested.

This was me and him outside of the cabin. Him getting to know the other parts of my life, and me, hopefully being able to do the same.

"Molly is the oldest," I started. "She travels a lot because of her job with Amazon. She's the assistant director for their documentary series, All or Nothing."

He nodded. "I remember when that came out. She and her boyfriend, Noah, right? The guy who plays for Washington."

"Yup. So they miss dinner a lot, but whenever she's in town, they're there."

"Next is"—he snapped his finger—"Isabel, right? The only one who didn't try to glare me out of your apartment, which makes me prone to like her the best."

I laughed. "Yes, she's the middle. And the funny thing about that is that Isabel is usually the hardest to impress. She and Paige are two peas in