“I want to believe that,” I said.
June’s thumb brushed slow across my knuckles. “Did I even tell you why I came back?”
I met her eyes, cocked my head. “Figured you just came to visit Delilah after you got ordained.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I was um…at my mama’s grave, leaving flowers. And when I got back in the car…the address to your church was in my navigation.”
I blinked. “What?”
She gave a little shrug. “It was just there. I hadn’t typed it in. It wasn’t saved, not in any list, not in any message. I hadn’t even decided where I was going that day, not really. I just…needed to drive. And when I looked down at my phone, that address was already in the navigation. Willow Grove. Your church…your home.”
I shook my head. “How…”
June laughed. “Who knows? Technical difficulties? Fate? Or…well, maybe my guardian angel sent me.”
“Or mine,” I offered.
She laughed again—soft this time.
“Maybe,” she said. “Either way…I listened.”
I looked down at her, the glow of the porch catching in her blue eyes, her hair haloed in gold. “I’m glad you did,” I said.
June’s eyes darted around, then, and I followed her gaze.
“What’re you lookin’ for, baby?” I asked, voice low.
And June smiled when she said, “Just making sure there are no snakes around before you kiss me.”
I laughed—quiet and breathless—because of course she’d say that. Of course she’d take all the fear and weight between us and cut right through it with something so simple, soher.
“I checked the perimeter,” I said, voice low as I took one more step closer, close enough to feel the heat of her body. “No snakes. Just fireflies.”
She looked up at me, and God help me, I thought I saw every answer I’d ever needed in those eyes.
“Then you should probably kiss me, Ward,” she whispered.
So I did.
I leaned in, slow but sure, and kissed her like I’d been waiting my whole damn life to find her. Like I’d carved her name into every pew and every prayer. Like she was the answer to a question I hadn’t dared to ask.
Her mouth was soft beneath mine, and she tasted like summer—like rum and sugar and something older than both of us. Her hands slid up my chest, curled into my shirt like she didn’t want to let go. I didn’t want to let go either.
I needed to tell her I thought the snake hadn’t been an accident…that maybe we weren’t safe.
But right here? Right now?
Nothing could touch us.
…other than my incredibly obnoxious brother.
“Y’all done makin’ out?” Whit called from the porch. “Because we’re voting on Fleetwood Mac fuckability and we need a tiebreaker.”
June didn’t pull away. She just smiled against my mouth, like she’d beenexpectingthat interruption.
“Unfortunately, my family is kind of part of the package,” I rumbled against her lips, resting my forehead against hers.
June laughed, and her breath was honey sweet against my lips. “I consider them more of a perk.”
