AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grace intended to savor every moment of this opportunity. She placed her hand on top of the hat she wore, tipped her head back, and closed her eyes, and one at a time, let her senses fill.
When she opened her eyes, the sky was a dazzling display that imbued her with bliss. She looked back over her shoulder to see Levi intently watching her instead of the sunset.
Grace smiled and stretched her hand out to him. He stepped forward, not taking the hand she offered, but moving behind her, wrapping his right hand around her waist, then settling his left hand over the top of it, encircling her with his presence.
She took another deep breath, tantalized by his masculine scent as it blended with the fresh breeze that wafted with a hint of the coming rainstorm.
Grace lost all track of time, all sense of place or purpose. All she knew at that moment was how good, how amazingly right it felt to be there with Levi. To stand in the circle of his arms and rest against his solid chest, and let the splendor of God’s creation fill her heart until it felt like it might burst with love.
A cold, chilly drop of liquid fell on her hands as she rested them on top of Levi’s at the center of her waist. She glanced up and caught a big drop of rain in her eye and two on her cheek.
“Come on. We’d better run for it, or you’ll be soaked.” Levi shouted to be heard over the thunder that rumbled right before lightning cracked across the sky. He grabbed Grace’s hand in his and sprinted toward the house. He pulled her under the eave of the porch as the clouds burst and rain poured down in sheets.
Grace leaned against him, entranced by the heat that suddenly sizzled in his blue eyes. What might have happened next was unexpectedly interrupted when Stella opened the door and tugged Grace inside.
“Good lands, son! She might freeze to death out there in this chilly storm.” Stella frowned at Levi as he stepped into the entry and closed the door behind him. He lifted Grace’s hat from her head and set it on the coat rack.
Grace heard Gary mutter, “The boy likely had a few ideas for keeping her warm before you butted in, Stell,” and had a hard time holding back her laughter, especially when she looked at Levi, and he waggled his eyebrows at her.
Somehow Gary’s comment made her feel like part of the family. The conversation flowed with the ease of good friends as they enjoyed lemon bars with homemade lemon ice cream and cups of coffee in the living room.
At the end of the evening, Stella invited Grace to spend the night so she wouldn’t have to drive home in the rain, but she politely refused. After thanking his parents for a lovely evening, Levi drove her back to his place to get her car.
“Are you sure I can’t drive you home?” he asked, stopping his pickup close to her car so she could basically go from one door to the other without getting too wet in the process.
“I’m sure, Levi. I’ve driven in the rain plenty of times. I had such a nice time with you today. Thank you for letting me come out and shoot the pistol as well as see the farm.”
“I’m the one who should thank you for hanging out with me and enduring dinner with my parents.”
“Your mom and dad are fantastic. They both have a great sense of humor, and they really made me feel welcome. Besides, your mother is an amazing cook. How do you stay in such great shape with all the good food she makes?”
“Work. Just the day-to-day work of a farmer.”
Grace knew that type of work well from growing up on her family’s dairy farm. “Thanks again for inviting me to come today.” She scooted closer on the bench seat and gave him a hug as the gear shift pressed into her thigh. She’d anticipated lingering a few minutes, savoring their first real kiss, but Levi merely gave her a hug in return, then kissed her cheek. Granted, he seemed concerned about the growing darkness and increasing severity of the storm and her driving home in it. But still, she’d been looking forward to finding out if he was as good at kissing as she imagined him to be.
“Call you tomorrow?” he asked, his hand on the door handle.
“Definitely. Thanks again, Levi.” She watched as he jumped out and raced around the pickup, head ducked against the pelting rain.
He opened her car door then the pickup door, and moved back.
Grace tossed Cindy’s hat into the car so it wouldn’t get wet, then got out of the pickup and looked at Levi one last time before leaving. His hair was plastered to his head from the rain, and his shirt was soaked to the skin, outlining defined muscles in his shoulders and arms. The heat was back in his eyes, burning like an incandescent flame.
A flame that might consume her if she let it.
Before she did something she shouldn’t, she turned to get into her car but suddenly found herself hauled against Levi’s hard chest. His arms encircled her again, and she felt the weight of his hands at the back of her waist.
She leaned into him, into his strength, and let her fingers twine into the damp tendrils of his hair at the back of his head.
His gaze fused to hers, as though he searched for something and found what he needed before his lips touched hers gently, tenderly.
A soft groan escaped from Grace, and Levi pulled her closer. He deepened the kiss—exploring, demanding, giving.
Grace felt lost in that moment.
Lost to the emotion swirling through her. Lost to anything but how perfect it was to be with Levi, to give herself over to the rapture of receiving and returning his powerful kisses.
When he finally raised his head, water dripped into their eyes and ran down their chins, but she smiled, and he kissed her again.
