Page 53 of Crossing the Line

Hercules narrows an eye as he jerks his head back. “Garnet?”

“Yeah. They’re love letters, and they’re very old, written before my dad and uncle were born. I think my grandfather hid them away from my grandmother.”

Hercules grunts as though he’s fascinated by what I just revealed. “And did you read them?”

I swallow, and a heaviness sits in my chest. Then I sigh the weight out of me. “Every last one of them. They loved each other, this mystery man and my grandmother. It explains a lot, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Hercules asks.

The air is still between us. I’m not sure what I’m feeling.Betrayal? Relief?

“My grandmother has rarely lived at home. She purports to be someone who was more married to her conservation cause than to my grandfather when he was alive, or even to her own children. But what if…?”

I close my eyes, trying to bear some of the distressing thoughts I’ve had for a long time. Hercules is still waiting silently.Just say it, Paisley.

“What if my grandfather kept my grandmother from marrying the man she truly loved?” I watch him with wide eyes, gnawing my bottom lip.

I’m hoping he’ll say, “PG, it’s probably nothing.” But instead and very quickly, Hercules’s face is near mine, and when his lips beckon, it feels as if the only right thing to do is to open up and let him into my mouth.

First, he sucks my lower lip. His warm tongue feels divine, and the sensation is so erotic. I’ve softened up, and I can’t resist him as our kiss lingers for several seconds. Then he slips his tongue deeper into my mouth. Our kissing is intense, insatiable. Our moaning collides throughout the cab, and my hand finds its way to his package.

I whimper in his mouth, feeling how hard he is. I could unzip him, free his erection, and put it in my mouth. But…

He’s squeezing my right breast when I break our lip contact and whisper, “Girl code.”

Hercules’s lips are still above mine when he says, “PG, you don’t have to fall on your sword for Lauren.”

“It’s not about her. It’s about me. And Lake and Treasure.”

“I’m never going to marry her, PG.” He sounds sure about that.

“You can’t know that.”

“I know it.”

“Then break off the engagement right now.”

We blink at each other. Instead of weakening, our eye contact deepens. I’m asking him to do the impossible. But why? Hercules won’t and can’t break his commitment to Lauren, at least not tonight.

“We’re here,” James says.

“PG, give me time,” Hercules whispers as the car stops.

“How much?” I ask.

“Not much.”

Nodding, I swallow past my tight throat. “I’ll try.”