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Her head titled as she offered me a soft smile. “You’re kind. Thank you for saying that.” Back on Valentine’s Day, I told her I had followed her online. I read her blog, followed her on Instagram, and kept up with her submissions to the various magazines and websites that published her work as best I could. She’d brushed past my admission, thanking me, but not letting the conversation get deep enough to allow me to express what her work had meant to me. She was talented but I had the feeling she didn’t realize how much.
“I didn’t say that just to be kind. In fact, I should thank you for the homeopathic stuff you used to share. Sadly, those posts came in handy way too often.” I held my arm out to show her the burn scar running up the back. “Exhibit A.”
She took my arm, turning it side to side. “Oh man, that must have hurt.”
“It would have been worse, but I used that mixture with—” She ran her fingertips over my scar, and I shivered. Like I’d been sucker punched, the sudden need for more of her touch roared in my ears and I lost my words as I imagined her hand on my arm in an entirely different scenario.Gripping, clutching, nails digging in as I—.
“The calendula one?”
Hastily, I nodded and drew my arm back. “Yes, that’s the one.”
Her nose scrunched up as she watched me. Why did she have to be so cute? As if being stunningly gorgeous wasn’t enough, she also had to be adorable.
“You look flushed,” she told me.
I inhaled a sharp breath as the back of her hand went to my forehead before drifting down to my cheek. “I’m fine.”
“Maybe you’re coming down with something.”
I shook my head and kept my mouth shut because nothing appropriate would come out whenyou, me,andright nowwere the only words running through my mind.
This was impossible. I’d had my hands on her body and my mouth on her lips, her neck, and that sweet little spot behind her ear that might become one of my favorites if given another chance to explore her. I’d come so close to getting everything I wanted, but I couldn’t have it.
Yet.
Knock it off.
She wasn’t ready for more and I was going to respect that.It was the right thing to do.
“I’ll be okay. Maybe I’ll go to bed early tonight,” I finally answered. “I’m probably just tired.”Tired—the universal excuse for everything. I stifled a chuckle at my own expense.
I used to imagine what it would be like to be near her, to talk to her, to touch her. And now I knew. Half of me wished I’d never found out, while the other half yearned to discover even more.
Chapter2
Holly
“I’m home. Jude? Levi?” The door had been unlocked when I came in and the silence that greeted me was beginning to freak me out. There was probably a murderer in here waiting to chop me up. I turned on my heel and darted back to the front door.
“It’s Gram! I’m in the kitchen. The boys ran to the store for me.”
Jude and Levi, my younger twin brothers, rented this townhouse in one of the downtown Sweetbriar neighborhoods. I was lucky they’d decided having one of their older sisters around wouldn’t cramp their style otherwise I’d still be staying with my parents. I adored my mother, but she was nosy, full of advice I didn’t want to take, and constantly trying to fix me up with her friend’s sons, so now I was crashing on their couch while I saved up for my own place.
Sighing with relief, I tossed my purse and coat on the coffee table and headed to the kitchen.
“Hey,” I greeted. “Ooh, you’re cooking. God bless you, Gram.” I hugged her and kissed the top of her white curls. She was tiny; I towered over her at five-nine.
“Grab an apron, honey, and I’ll teach you how to make my veggie beef soup. Levi thinks he’s coming down with a cold. But I think he just wanted something home cooked. They’re out picking up bread and crackers to go with the soup and a bottle of white zin for me. If I’m cooking, I’m drinking. Ain’t no other way.”
I laughed. “You’re probably right about that. Levi is always grumbling about wanting Mom’s meatloaf and trying to get me to make it.”
“Like he can’t learn to make it himself,” she scoffed.
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“He’s always been a little knucklehead. But listen.” She caught my eye and the serious look in hers sent a shiver up my spine.
“Oh my god, Gram. What’s wrong?”
