Take Me Away (Southern Bride 6)

“The same reason she didn’t ask them in the hospital. I think her mind knows and is keeping it from her to save her the pain.”

I pressed the beer bottle to my lips and watched Saryn show Linnzi something on her phone as Nolan walked over and held up his arms. Linnzi reached down and picked him up. She covered his face with kisses and then gave him the brightest smile I’d ever seen.

“Maybe her mind is going to block it forever,” Truitt said.

I dragged in a breath, not even realizing I had been holding it during the entire scene. “Maybe. But how do I keep something like that from her? We didn’t tell her so that her body and mind could heal and the memory would come back on its own. At the time it felt like the absolute right thing to do, and now…now I can hardly stand myself.”

Truitt reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “Follow your heart, Nolan.”

“I followed it eight years ago, Truitt, and it took her away from me. I’m afraid if I follow it again, I’ll lose her forever.”

He sighed. “That’s a risk you’re going to have to take. I don’t see you being able to live with this between y’all, Nolan. I know you, and I know you won’t be able to do it. Why in the hell do you think you walked away the first time?”

I watched as Linnzi stood, Nolan in her arms, and walked to the other side of the cabin, where Liliana promptly gave them instructions on how to play a game she’d set up.

Slowly, I shook my head. “I don’t want to lose her again. I don’t think I can live through it twice.”LinnziNOLAN HELD MY hand as we walked down the path that led to my parents’ front porch.

“Maybe I should get my own house,” I mused out loud.

“Your own place?” Nolan’s voice sounded strange. Like my suggestion was insane.

I turned to face him, looking up into those beautiful eyes. A girl could easily get lost in those depths. The dark ring around his pupils seemed to change with his moods. I hadn’t figured out the reasons why yet, but I longed to.

“Well, it would be nice to invite you in for a drink. But if I did, I’m sure my father would ask you to show him videos of you flying, or talk to you about some farm equipment he read about or a law case he’s been working on. Or my mother might talk you into trying a piece of her pecan pie.”

His brows lifted. “I’d be okay with that one.”

Smiling, I shook my head. “She does make a good pecan pie.”

When I looked back toward the front door, Nolan placed his finger under my chin and lifted my gaze to meet his. “We could have gone to my house.”

My heart ran rampant in my chest. “You didn’t suggest it.”

His brows pulled in tight, and he wore a pained expression on his face. “I…I don’t want to push you, Linz. I have memories of us—you don’t yet.”

That wasn’t true. I knew my dreams were memories, and a part of me longed to share them with him. But another part of me held back. “I feel something for you, Nolan. A longing. A desire to have you touch me. To be inside me.”

He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. Then he opened them and pierced me with his gaze. “You have no idea how much I want to be with you. It nearly kills me not to touch you, to feel your body next to mine.”

Goosebumps rose on my skin, and my teeth dug into my lip as I fought the urge to let out a moan at the mere thought of being against this man, skin on skin. I could easily ask him to take me home with him. Tell him I wanted him. I could see it in his face. He wanted me desperately.

I lifted my hand, and I pushed my fingers through his brown hair just as I had done the day before, loving how silky it felt against my skin. “Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked.

All he did was nod.

“You’ll call me in the morning?”

“You don’t have any plans?”

I laughed. “No! At some point I need to find a job, but my day is completely open.”

He reached for my hand, and I thought he was going to kiss the back of it. Instead, he turned and kissed the inside of my wrist, which caused me to suck in a breath of air, and instantly I was transported to another moment in time. A younger version of Nolan standing before me. That devilishly handsome smile on his face. He lifted my hand and kissed my wrist too. “Until tomorrow, Linz.”

Nolan’s voice pulled me out of the memory. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”