of that perfection.”
He sat up so Lacey could see his face and know he was telling the truth.
“They are not perfect, especially on the inside, and you are beautiful inside and out.”
“I know that,” she said, smiling, though he didn’t miss the fact that her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “But I have a family that not only believes I’m beautiful, but never lets me forget it. I don’t think Stacey has ever had that kind of support from anyone.”
“God, that sucks.” He laid back down on the rock, bumping his shoulder against hers. He and his siblings had always been close—even Liam who, up until recently, had spent the majority of his time keeping his distance—and they were always there for each other. He couldn’t imagine not having that support from his family, and yet, he believed Lacey was probably right about Stacey.
Or at least on the right track.
The woman was definitely isolated, and trying to do it all alone.
“It does,” Lacey nodded, “but you’ll fix that. We all will.”
“Yeah we will.”
And they would, too. That was one of the things that he loved about his family. When one of them needed help, they all stepped up to give it. Stacey might not be his—yet—but he was going to try hard to change that, and he knew his family would help as much as possible.
Now all he had to do was up his “friend" game.
5
Stacey looked across the lake through a hole in the trees, and shook her head. She could see the outline of the equipment shed, but there was no way she could see who was inside—and she definitely couldn’t see Lael.
Not from this far away.
It didn’t matter that she’d seen him less than an hour ago. That encounter had been brief, and she already wanted to see him again. She shook her head again, and stood to dip her toes in the water. The hidden alcove on the other side of the lake was the perfect spot to get near the water without anyone witnessing her awkwardness.
Trees surrounded this part of the lake, and though access to the water was limited along the dirt path and tree-line, this area had shallow access just like the swimming section. The area wasn’t off limits to anyone, but because it was slightly hidden in the trees, most tourists didn’t know about it.
She took off her flip-flops, leaving them near a rock, and stepped into the part of the lake where the water lapped against the sand. The landscape looked identical to a very small beach, maybe large enough for six adults to lay out side-by-side, and it was one of her favorite places on the property.
At least so far.
Honesty, she’d only been around the lake four times, and she was probably missing a ton of stuff on her daily walk. Especially when her mind was focused on Lael.
God, she wanted him.
She didn’t want to want him, but she did, and she was pretty sure that feeling wasn’t going away any time soon. Especially because the man was making it nearly impossible for her to stay away from him.
Four days ago, her declaration about them just being friends had been intended as a way to push Lael away, but instead of taking the hint, the man had doubled-down, and was actually trying to be her friend.
It was both sweet and incredibly annoying.
Sweet because—duh—he was trying, and she didn’t think it was for the sole reason of getting into her pants. In fact, he hadn’t mentioned anything about dinner, or dates, all week.
And that was the annoying part.
After seeing him every day, and accepting that he wasn’t going anywhere, she really wished she hadn’t turned down his offer for dinner. That had been a stupid to attempt to keep him at bay—to keep him in the box that she’d created for him—but Lael had busted out of that box within a few hours.
He was perfect looking on the outside—anyone with eyes could see that—but on the inside, he was so much more than her past experiences with perfect people.
Lael wasn’t shallow, or arrogant, and he certainly wasn’t mean. In fact, he was one of the nicest people she’d ever known, and that was saying a lot, because the whole Rivers family was pretty great. His brothers and sisters treated her like one of their own, and unlike her family, they didn’t talk down to her and criticize every little thing. She liked his siblings a lot, and she was pretty sure