“I’m suddenly a huge fan of second chances.”
My intentions to kiss him sweetly are gone when he crashes his mouth to mine. Unlike earlier, this isn’t sweet and slow, where he takes his time to explore. Now, he’s kissing me like a man kisses a woman he hasn’t seen in two years, six months, and seventeen days. The same woman he just admitted to thinking about often.
His hands glide around my neck and tangle in my hair as he folds my body flush against him. My own hands are trapped between us, so all I can do is grip his t-shirt.
I let him control this, hoping he can feel my range of emotions as our tongues swirl together in perfect rhythm. He shifts us, bracing me with one arm as he lays us on our side, him partially on top. The kiss continues, and I’m internally begging for it never to end. Being in his arms is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. He starts to slow and break away, nibbling lightly on my bottom lip.
“Grace, remember when I mentioned I was tempted to kick my own ass for not kissing you sooner?” He lays his forehead against mine and captures me again with his eyes. They are burning with the same desire searing through my body. “This afternoon at practice, I am willingly going to get my ass kicked. I deserve it for being a dipshit.”
I start to giggle, shaking against him, and feel his own chest vibrating.
The connection from all those years ago just exploded, and one thought crosses my mind.
Logan was wrong. So, so, so wrong. This isn’t a crush on Nick Bennett. In this instant, it becomes so much more.
There’s no hiding my dreamy mood when Logan walks into the gallery mid-afternoon. He takes one look at me and rolls his eyes then glances around, taking in all the work Nick and I accomplished.
“I hardly recognize this place,” he says approvingly.
“It’s turned out gorgeous.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“You can help me with more of the staging, and then you can take pictures for the website.”
“We’re that close to being done? We scheduled three days for this.”
“Yes, and thanks to Nick and Rodney’s help yesterday, and Nick’s help this morning, we’re way ahead of schedule.”
“Where is Nick?” He glimpses toward the back.
“He had to get to the stadium. We were here by seven thirty this morning.”
“That was cool of him, especially coming off such an aggressive game on Sunday. He’s got to be exhausted.”
“I know. We owe him for helping us. It was completely unnecessary.”
“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll agree that we owe him something. Just being around him for those few hours, I could tell he wanted to be here.”
The gooey feelings return as I picture Nick’s face when he kissed me goodbye earlier. He was hesitant to leave, but after the third call he received and the incessant beeping of his phone with messages, I practically had to force him out the door. I can almost still feel his lips on mine.
Memories of the morning come flooding back. Each time he hung a picture, he took the opportunity to pull me to him and kiss me. Every time our mouths touched, desire scorched inside me. It’s hard to believe it’s been less than a week since he walked into the gallery to find me.
“Hey! Get out of Grace Space.” Logan snaps his fingers, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry.” I shrug unapologetically.
“Did you hear anything I said?”
“Nope.”
“Mom called this morning.”
“And?”
“She’ll call you tonight. She’s making sure we’re coming home in October.”
The Fall Festival! I completely forgot. “Logan, did you mention we have a business to run? Now that I’m here full-time, it’s going to be really hard for us both to travel at the same time.”