AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She merely motioned for him to follow her. He reached for her hand as they began to circle her apartment complex, cutting through the pool area that was closed for the winter.
“It’s a never ending battle between me and sweets, Mister,” she grumbled. “Pretty sure I warned you I have issues. That’s one of them.”
“I like you and your issues, Prim.” He liked the whole package that made up Prim Midraven. A lot.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “All afternoon, I debated typing up a warning label for you.”
“About?” He glanced down at her in bemusement.
“About me.”
“I like you just the way you are, Prim. Thought we covered that already.”
“There are some things you don’t know about me, Shep.” Her tone grew morose.
“Then tell me,” he urged. He highly doubted she was hiding any overly concerning skeletons in her closet. She was too sweet and kind.
“I’d rather not scare you off just yet.”
The statement almost wasn’t worthy of a response, but he gave her one, anyway. “I’m not going anywhere, Prim.” Thanks to a disabled uncle, he hadn’t left Heart Lake for more than a couple of days throughout his entire thirty years on the planet.
As they passed through an empty courtyard, she paused beside a cluster of pines. “Do you plan on staying in Heart Lake?”
“Yep.” He was surprised by the abrupt change in subject, and the fact that they were no longer walking. “What about you?”
“Yes. I love it here.”
“Any particular reason?” He nudged her shoulder suggestively and managed to pull a faint smile out of her.
“Fishing, deputy?” Her gaze twinkled into his.
“Always.”
“Fine. I love this town. I love my job. I love my patients on the rez.” She drew a quick breath. “And you’re here.”
“Nice list.”
She grew quiet for a bit. “Shep, I really need to know something.” Her voice grew agitated, making his shoulders tense.
“Was what happened between us earlier a onetime thing, or…” She stopped and shook her head, blushing. The evening shadows were deepening, and the wind was picking up more bite by the minute.
Her question made his heart pound. After wrestling all afternoon with the fear he might’ve damaged their friendship with his kiss, he couldn’t believe she was all but begging him to do it again.
“How about we find out?” He drew her into his arms and slowly dipped his head over hers.
CHAPTER 4: KILLER TRAINING
Prim shyly slid her arms around his neck and leaned into his kiss. Though the air was cool, the silky drag of his mouth against hers was toasty warm.
“I really didn’t know you felt this way,” she whispered against his lips. She should have, but she hadn’t.
“Now you do.” He brushed his mouth against hers again.
She clung tighter to him, enjoying the ripple of muscles across his hard shoulders. She wondered if she’d been too busy secretly crushing on him herself to guess the truth about his feelings. Either that, or he’d truly not dropped many hints. Though she was getting better at reading him, sometimes his stoic expressions and mannerisms were difficult to interpret.
He deepened their kiss, wrapping his arms around her middle and drawing her up to her tiptoes against his chest.
By the time he ended the kiss, she was completely shaken by the depth of emotion he’d poured into it. “That’s a lot of feeling, Shep.” She lightly brushed her fingers against the back of his neck.
