He moved in closer. “Well, good. Because I don’t want to be your boyfriend.”

Paige narrowed her eyes. Was he thinking about a fling? She might have considered that, but… Mitch had happened. And now she wasn’t attracted to Carter at all.

“Then what do you want?” she asked, not wanting to assume anything here.

“We’re both living and working here, settling down,” Carter said. “We’re at the same place in our lives. I think we should get married.”

Paige wondered for a moment if she’d had more champagne than she’d thought. But no. This was happening.

“You’re not even going to take me out to dinner?” she asked with an eye roll. “Pretend to work up to this?”

In one way, in the back part of her brain, she kind of appreciated the no-nonsense, skip the romantic bullshit approach.

That didn’t, however, make her appreciate that she was being proposed to. Again. For fuck’s sake.

Did she have a sign on her forehead? Had her mother signed her up on an online dating site with a description that read “Ready to marry immediately. Serious offers only”?

Actually, that last one made a little sense, and Paige made a mental note to check those sites tomorrow.

“Of course I’ll take you to dinner,” Carter said. “Anything you want. But I just don’t think we should beat around the bush. I want you to know that I’m serious about this. I’m ready to make a commitment.”

Otter yoga.

Those were the two words that went through her head.

She had to get out of here.

And there was really only one place she could even consider going.

“Well, that’s not really going to work for me,” she said, pushing Carter back and getting into the car.

“What? Why not? I’ve asked around. You’ve dated pretty much everyone here. If something was going to happen with someone here, it would have, don’t you think?”

She nodded. “Absolutely.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Well, gosh, for one… I don’t want to marry you.” She reached for the door and pulled it partially shut. Then she added. “For another, I’m leaving in the morning.” Sure, it was a month early, but the idea of showing up in Autre, Louisiana and surprising Mitch made her heart pound.

“Leaving?” Carter asked, clearly confused.

“Yeah. I’m moving.” She sounded completely confident. And happy. And she maybe felt both of those things too. “Away from Appleby.”

“Where are you going? My grandma didn’t say anything about that,” Carter said with a frown.

It was actually fair, sadly, for Carter to assume his grandmother would know all about any plans like that.

Paige smiled at her fifth proposal and said with relief and a sense of anticipation that she hadn’t felt in… ever, “South. I need a break and a little… heat.”

“Just south? That’s all you know?”

“That’s all you need to know.”

“Is it a guy?” he asked with a frown.

She didn’t answer right away. That would definitely get back to his grandmother, then to her grandmother, then to her mother…

But would that be so bad? She’d be out of state, away from here, away from the drop-ins to try to get information.

“Yeah, it is,” she finally said.

“Wow,” Carter said. “You must be in love.”

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not that.”

“Paige,” Carter said. “You’ve never so much as changed your pizza order for a guy. But now you’re moving for one? If it’s not love, what is it?”

Well, she… couldn’t say for sure. But it wasn’t love.

Was it?

Was this what falling in love felt like?

Oh… fu… fuck.