Too bad Davis looked like she’d just asked him to rob a candy store. Like he really wanted to, but it was against his ethics or something. Seriously.
“Mia.” He turned toward her, his long leg brushing hers on the bench seat, but otherwise, he didn’t come closer. “When I kiss you next time—if there is a next time—I want it to be real. Not part of a game we’re playing.”
She would not have thought that she’d be the kind of girl whose heart did backflips. But…yup. He turned her all kinds of inside out with that statement.
When she said nothing—her throat had dried up—he smiled crookedly at her. Could he see how much his words affected her? She couldn’t tell. She could only watch, speechless, as Davis brushed his first two fingers over his lips and then grazed those same fingers along her cheek.
She got legit goose bumps.
“Besides,” he continued as the first bell blasted over the PA system in the parking lot. “I definitely wouldn’t wantto rush it.”
“I can’t believethis place is even more jam-packed than yesterday.” Clayton swung Gabriella’s rental car into a spot on the street several blocks from the courthouse. “And we’re here early.”
“It would have been easier to park the motorcycle, I bet,” she observed as she tied the belt on her coat together while he straightened out the vehicle. “If the weather was better, I would have enjoyed that, too.”
So would he. And not just because taking the bike would have given him the chance to feel Gabby wrapped all around him for the duration of the ride. He truly appreciated the way the bike gave him more to do than a car, keeping his twitchiness at bay by engaging him on a lot of levels. His father was stable, according to the nurse Clay had spoken with this morning. But he was still out of it. Still in no position to have that conversation Clay had hoped they would have the day before.
He’d try again tonight after the trial.
After spending the night with Gabriella—and what an incredible night it had been—he was definitely feeling that edgy restlessness this morning. He’d never tried for a meaningful relationship, knowing he would only mess it up. He’d always preferred simple affairs with the kind of women who liked short-term as much as he did.
Nothing about his powerful connection to Gabriella was simple. Or short-term. And that scared the hell out of him. Every time in his life that he’d thought he made a real connection with someone, something bad happened. His father. His brother. Even Gabriella herself. He’d lost her once already—ten years ago.
The reminder got him thinking about the life he’d builtfor himself back in Memphis. Boring, maybe. But solid. Safe. He had a good reputation with his clients and all the work he could handle.
“The weather is supposed to start clearing tonight. We should have a few dry days soon.” At which time, he’d be taking the bike out to see if he could outrun a few demons long enough to help Gabriella get through this trial.
“Good.” She unfastened her seat belt but then reached for his hand instead of the door handle. “Clay? Are you okay?”
“Sure.” He nodded, thinking about touching her the night before and how much he wanted to touch her again. Hold her. He was starting to care for her all over again, and the connection was deeper this time. Stronger. “I’m good. Hoping today is easier on you than yesterday.”
That last part was true enough. He hated seeing Gabriella as tense and upset as she had clearly been yesterday afternoon.
“They’re introducing the digital evidence today.” Her wide blue eyes tracked his and he wondered what she saw. “I’m going to be holding my breath waiting to see if that last conversation is in there—the one I thought I was having with you.”
He knew there’d been more than one, but apparently the online chat messages that had been most upsetting for her were the ones that happened the night she’d been attacked.
“It’s doubtful Covington had the same computer for ten years,” he reminded her.
“But apparently the desktop is old. The women at the Salon Night were comparing notes about the evidence and I heard Kate Covington say she left the desktop in the familyden, even though they’ve worked on their laptops in the last six years.”
Clayton still doubted that messages that old could be retrieved, but he wanted to be prepared for the emotional fallout for Gabriella’s sake. Reading over those notes would be tough for her.
“Either way, I’ll be there with you,” he assured her. “And you will have your chance to see him when he hears that guilty verdict.”
“I will look forward to that.” She glanced out the windshield where a young shopkeeper was unlocking the front door of an adventure outfitters store. “But even that won’t magically heal the past for me. Staying in the in-law suite last night made me think a bigger obstacle will be stepping back in the bedroom where I decided my life wasn’t worth living.”
His grip tightened on her hand and a fierce certainty fired through him. “You’re stronger than you think, Gabriella Chance.”
Her half smile ghosted across her face for a moment before fading.
“Mia said something like that to me this morning. She said we gain strength from what we’ve had to overcome.” Her voice was the barest of whispers as she tore her gaze away from the shopkeeper setting bicycles outside on the sidewalk and turned to look at Clay. “But being in Heartache has brought back old nightmares?—”
“What about last night?” He’d thought she’d slept soundly beside him.
Despite his worries about their relationship, Clayton had slept better than he had in a long time with his arms wrapped around her.
“Well. Not last night.” Some of the tension seemed to slide out of her shoulders.
