Her heart beat faster and she swallowed hard. Was she that transparent?
“I’m not sure I remember exactly,” she started to fib.
“No?” He tunneled his hands beneath the jacket, finding her waist. “Whatever it was, I liked it.”
With his hands on her, his breath mingling with hers, it was easier to admit the truth.
“I may have been thinking about how much I wantedyou to kiss me.” She laid her palms on his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart through the thermal shirt under the flannel.
A few night birds called overhead, but other than that, silence wrapped around them in this rural end of town.
“I’m glad, Gabriella.” He brushed feather-light kisses along her jaw, making her shiver and move closer to him. “But I want you to know you have an open invitation to kiss me whenever you feel like it.”
The words provided a small, secret thrill that shot through her like a falling star.
“Is that so?” She liked this new boldness he gave her. This ability to flirt and feel the soft magic of attraction without fear or shame, without the barbs and tenterhooks of the past calling her out of the moment.
It felt beautiful.
“Anytime. Anywhere.” He nipped her lower lip but still didn’t kiss her. “On the West Coast or in Memphis.”
She felt his slow smile against her mouth, but everything inside her stilled. She opened her eyes to find him watching her in the moonlight, and something about his expression told her he was feeling her out about continuing their relationship after the trial was over.
She edged back.
“Mia’s life is here,” she protested. “In Heartache. And I’m not ready to walk away from her.”
He nodded slowly in a way that suggested acceptance even if his gaze cooled, his expression shuttered.
“She has a good advocate in both of us. I hope you know that.”
That was as much of a concession as she was going to wrest from him. She knew that from the look in his eyes.Perhaps it was a sign that she should simply enjoy their window of time together and not worry about what came next. Clayton was part of her healing, and she was grateful for that even if he couldn’t be a part of her future.
Or his sister’s.
“I do know that.” Understanding washed over her, the realization that she wouldn’t win this battle. It made her time with him more bittersweet.
But by God, she wouldn’t waste a minute of it. So, calling up her courage, she gripped the lapels of his flannel shirt and hauled him back toward the narrow porch of the in-law annex. A motion light tripped on, flooding them in a golden glow that illuminated the dark cedar shake siding.
Illuminated Clay.
She brushed her lips over his, the barest grazing of mouths. Another thrill chased around her insides, lighting her up. The scent of barbecue clung to their clothes and skin from the reunion, the smoky tang doing nothing to appease the hunger she was feeling now. She ran her tongue around his lips. Testing. Tasting.
With a low growl of approval, Clay broke the kiss long enough to disarm Zach’s high-tech alarm system since he knew all the codes. She liked seeing the way his breaths huffed into the cool night air.
Wordlessly, she drew him inside with her. Like a continuation of their two-step, they moved together with easy coordination. She shed his jacket on the couch while he reactivated the alarm. He untwined her scarf from around her neck and she slipped off her boots. A low wattage lamp behind the sofa made it easy to see, one of many lights that turned on and off according to the security system.
Gabriella liked it because she could see Clay all the better when he lifted her off her feet and into his arms, a gesture that made her smile. He strode with her across the room, elbowing open the door to the master bedroom.
“I could have walked,” she reminded him, mostly to tease him. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I was going for speed.” He toed the door shut behind them and then propped a knee on the bed before lowering her to the downy mattress with a plump feather bed on top.
The pillowy bedding shifted around her, surrounding her in laundry-scented linens. There was no lamp here, only the scant moonlight. Clay left her for a moment to adjust the top half of the wooden blinds, letting more light shine through from high up, protecting their privacy.
She propped herself on her elbows to watch while he shrugged off his shirts, his chest a sight to behold. Corded muscle shifted with him as he reached down to strip off his boots. Inspired, she sat up farther so she could slip her sweater up and over her head. Clay paused in the middle of unfastening his belt, his attention thoroughly captured in a way that flattered.
In a way that touched her. A way that made her feel normal and womanly.
