“Military training or gentlemanly manners?”
“My parents raised me well, but my very first drill sergeant taught me to protect what matters.”
She made a contemplative noise, and to his pleasure, she looped her arm through his like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Lead the way, Marine.”
He did. And as they walked toward the smell of frying sugar and the sound of laughter, he realized it wasn’t just the energy of the festival filling the air with excitement.
It had everything to do with the woman at his side.
* * * * *
The festival noise felt like it lived under Felicity’s skin. The things that once inspired a thrill of community, of belonging, were blurring together.
She’d sold a few books. Enough to pretend things were fine. Enough to pretend she hadn’t caught herself wondering what would happen next year if she didn’t have a table at all.
Normally, she would have lingered at her table, drawn people in by talking to them about new book releases and making kids promise to read over the summer.
If she wasn’t here next year…she’d miss the town so much. Gabe said she belonged in Willowbrook, and honestly, she couldn’t see herself anywhere else.
She didn’t know how to respond to his comment because she couldn’t handle saying out loud how close she felt to losing everything she’d built. It was easier to talk about funnel cakes and kids with sticky fingers than a lot of other things she didn’t have names for.
Gabe…was becoming dangerous in all the ways she wasn’t prepared for.
Dangerous to her heart.
A group of kids hopped up on sugar darted past them, screaming and laughing. The rock band kicked up another song, a little too loud and out of sync.
She kept time with Gabe’s slow strides, but every so often, she bumped into him as if that magnet and steel were at play again. As if her body didn’t realizenowwasn’t the time to jump his bones.
She ducked her head, hiding a private smile. The previous night in the Malones’ library…she’d caught herself drifting back to it all day long. When he hefted a box of books for the table, she had to clench her thighs at the memory of him pinning her to the wall of the library—then blowing her mind with every tormenting twist of his tongue.
A little shiver coursed down her spine. Now that her mind had jumped on that path, visions flipped past in her mind. Gabe’s dark command for her to find the words.
And his own.Protect what matters.
There was no second-guessing what he meant.
Shemattered. To him.
She gave his arm a squeeze, loving how the muscle flexed under her fingers in response. He twisted his head, eyes deep pools of what she could only call happiness.
Then it happened.
A bang.
Sharp and sudden,crackingthrough the air.
Felicity startled—more out of reflex than fear. A laugh perched on the edge of her lips, about to fly out as she spotted two boys running from the firecrackers they threw on the pavement.
Gabe didn’t laugh.
In an instant, she was airborne.
He hooked her around the waist and shoved her into the narrow alley beside the antique store. Her back hit the ground, punching the air from her lungs.
His body landed over hers, solid and heavy, shielding every inch of her.
