Page 7

H onor locked the door of her van and stepped back from the vehicle. The street was quiet. In this part of Willowbrook, there were no traditional streetlights, but a few of the neighbors had left their porch lights on. Why hadn’t she thought to do the same when she left her sister’s house that afternoon?

Something about the hush of the town made her uneasy.

Or maybe it was because earlier she thought she saw Sully. Now every time she thought of her ex, her stomach bottomed out.

She shook off the feeling and, casting a look around, started toward the front of the house.

At that moment, a car hummed down the street. Heart throbbing, she looked up at the vehicle.

Relief shot through her veins and made her fingers tingle as she realized it was Felicity’s small SUV buzzing up to the driveway.

With the key her sister gave her already in the door lock, Honor opened the door. The familiar sound of the automatic garage door moving upward was somewhat of a comfort.

Get a grip. Sully isn’t in Willowbrook.

Besides, even if he were, she was in no danger. He wasn’t a threat to her. He was too soft, a beta man.

Not at all like Gray…

Now what made her think that? She didn’t even know the man.

She stepped through the front door and locked it behind her. A moment later, her sister entered through the kitchen.

Felicity juggled a tote bag and a sack of groceries she must have picked up at some point during the day. Honor set down her own handbag and rushed forward to take something from Felicity.

“You made good time,” she said as she set the grocery bag on the counter.

Felicity eyed her. “And you lollygagged.”

She fizzled with barely suppressed excitement, but she didn’t quite know how to bring up her news about dinner with Gray yet.

She began unpacking the bag, setting out a jar of vodka sauce and a box of pasta. “This looks like it will be a good meal.”

“I know you like that brand of sauce.”

“I do…but I won’t be here for dinner tonight.”

Her sister slowly turned to face her, head cocked and a meaningful look in her eyes. “Oh, do tell, little sister.”

“Gray asked me to dinner.”

“You’ve been in town two minutes and already have a date. I’ve lived here five years and I can’t remember the last time I had one.”

Honor moved to the kitchen door, where she kicked off her leather sandals and set them neatly on the mat side by side. “It’s not a date—it’s business.”

Felicity let out a snort. “Business, huh? If it was just business, don’t you think he would have just talked to you about it in the parking lot? It wouldn’t require dinner.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it. Okay, she had a point.

From the counter—all the way across the room—Honor’s phone buzzed with an incoming text.

It took Felicity one step to reach her phone, when it would take Honor five.

“Hey!” she called out as her sister snatched up her phone and read the text.

“Prairie Ember!” Felicity’s exclamation made Honor’s brows pinch.

“What’s Prairie Ember?”

“Only the best restaurant in the county. It is not a discuss-business-deals-over-coffee place.” She handed over the phone, and Honor pulled it close to read the text from Gray including the restaurant name and the time he’d be picking her up.

Butterfly wings fluttered in her stomach.

Felicity watched her face closely. “Told you it was a date.”

“Plenty of business is discussed in nice restaurants.”

“Yeah, but this is Gray Malone.”

“What does that mean?”

Her sister’s look gave Honor pause. She had no idea who he truly was. She’d run into him in passing at the coffee shop, then the post office. He joined her class.

Sure, he had steady hands and a quiet, intense way of watching her that made her breath hitch.

But who was Gray Malone?

She leaned against the counter. “All right. Tell me what you know about him.”

Felicity flashed a grin, as if she had been waiting for this moment. Leaning against the counter too, she faced Honor. “Oh, now you want to know? Let me think…”

“Felicity!”

Her sister chuckled. “He runs a ranch outside of town with his family. Former military. He also helps out with some kind of security business.”

“Security business?”

“Nobody knows what it is exactly, but he’s got connections.”

Military. No wonder he seemed so stiff. And his hands so steady.

Her sister nodded as if to confirm everything she said. “From what I know, he’s the strong and silent type.”

That tracked with what Honor already knew.

“He’s the sort of guy who doesn’t talk much but gets things done. Kind of intense, kind of broody. Kind of…hot.” She smirked at Honor.

She gripped her phone tighter. “Well, now I’m nervous. I had no idea he’s known for all those things. How did you find all this out?”

“People talk in small towns. Especially when the newcomer looks like Gray Malone.”

She bit down on her lip, her mind filled with images of how Gray looked when he rounded the corner of the post office and demanded to know what she was doing. She also thought about how he filled a room with his presence without even trying, how he’d joined into her class without hesitating, and how he threaded those beads onto the wire, steady and sure.

And how his gaze flickered to her, as if he was reading her.

When was the last time anybody looked at her with such intensity? Never. The answer was never.

“He’s former military,” she repeated.

Felicity nodded and wiggled her fingers. “Did you see his hands? So big. So strong. So steady.”

Honor grabbed a dishtowel and flung it at her, even as her stomach dipped with a mixture of excitement and something she couldn’t explain.

“C’mon, Honor. I know you were thinking the same thing when you were helping him make those earrings.”

Her sister knew her too well. She always thought they shared a similar taste in men…until Sully came into her life.

Now her nerves weren’t just about dinner with a gorgeous man. It was about the whole package, including this mysterious business deal.

“Where did you meet Gray, anyway?”

Her sister’s question caught her off guard. A shiver ran down her spine. She didn’t want to tell her that she thought she spotted Sully’s van on the street. At least not right now.

“You said it yourself—it’s a small town. You bump into someone twice and suddenly you’re going out to dinner. Now…what do I wear to this fancy restaurant?”

* * * * *

Gray stood outside the door of the house where Honor told him to pick her up. As he adjusted the tie his sister forced him to wear, he eyed the door handle. Handles like that had simple locks. Easily breached.

After seeing that flare of fear in her eyes when she admitted she thought she saw her ex in town, he didn’t like the thought of only a cheap lock between her and the man that put that fear in her.

He punched the doorbell and shifted from foot to foot as he waited for her to answer it. Feeling nervous was rare for him. He’d spent years facing danger and making split-second decisions—decisions that carried life-or-death consequences. One wrong move could be the end of the op, of his team, of him.

Something about Honor rattled him in a way he wasn’t used to. Waiting for her to open the door actually made his palms damp.

He brushed them on the legs of his trousers.

Just then, Honor opened the door. And oh god, she was breathtaking. In a flowing dress the color of red roses that skimmed her curves, she looked him over the same way he was gawking at her.

She stood in a ring of light inside the house. The glow kissed her pale waves and gave them a golden shimmer. Her blue eyes were warm and filled with curiosity as she took in his appearance.

Her lips curved in an appealing smile. “You clean up well.”

He exhaled a laugh. Several times now, he’d made the noise and that surprised him, given how rare it was to hear it from himself. It had been one hell of a long year.

“You sound shocked.”

“Not shocked. Just appreciating the effort.”

She gripped the door handle and threw a look over her shoulder. Through the opening, he saw that Felicity stood on the far side of the room. “Bye, sis. Lock up—I’ve got my key.”

Her sister tossed them a careless wave that was a little too calculated.

He cast a glance at their surroundings as he walked her to his truck and opened the door for her. As she climbed in, the hem of her dress hiked up her thighs and gave him a peek at the supple skin.

Damn.

He wanted those thighs wrapped around his ears as he tasted her sweetness. His gut clenched, and his cock jerked behind the fly of his fitted trousers.

Quickly, he shut the door and rounded the vehicle to jump behind the wheel. As soon as they were settled, he started the engine and backed out of the driveway, headed toward the restaurant.

He turned his head to look at her. The smile she threw his way put him at ease in a way he never really felt anymore. Not since before he joined the military. Hell, not even then, since his father made their growing-up years hell.

Honor had a calming effect on him, though, and he felt the tension trickle out of him.

“How did the earrings go over with your sister?”

Her question completely shattered any nerves left between them, and he felt himself relax, telling her how Willow reacted to receiving the gift.

They chatted easily all the way to the restaurant. He’d driven past Prairie Ember before plenty, but never eaten there. The outside had a rustic charm that Honor commented on as they strolled up to the entrance.

Inside, he swept his gaze over the space, marking windows, exits and noting anyone he knew among the guests seated at the quaint tables.

He gave one man a nod as he passed by a table. Honor slowed her steps in response, and he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her to the table the host led them to.

Her spine stiffened a bit at the touch, but she didn’t protest. Her dress was silkier than it appeared, gliding against the bare skin underneath. It made him think of how it would feel to slide his hand lower and explore the curve of her round ass.

The twitch of her hips drove him crazier with each step toward their table. When they finally reached the small table for two in the back of the room as he requested when he phoned in the reservation, relief swept over him. He didn’t know how much more of that twitch he could endure without yanking her against him so she could feel how damn hard she made him.

Once they were seated with drinks in hand—a glass of white wine for Honor and a beer for him—Gray studied her.

A flickering candle in a glass holder cast a golden glow over her skin and made her eyes dance. He responded by doing something that was rare for him—he rested back in his seat and smiled at her.

She lifted her glass to her lips and sipped the wine. “You look pleased with yourself.”

That made his lips quirk more. “I am.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And why is that?”

He brought his beer to his lips. “Because I chose the best beer on tap. Of course.”

“Ah.” She pursed her lips around her glass again, giving him a tight squeezing sensation in his gut.

After they ordered, she propped her chin on her laced fingers and studied him. “So what made you go into the military?”

Her question jolted him, but he didn’t let her see that. “Looks like someone did their homework.”

“Felicity told me.”

“Ah. Well, I guess I joined up out of a sense of honor. My brothers enlisted before me. You could say it was a family thing.”

“Was your father in the military too?”

He kept his expression neutral, but any talk of his father usually got squashed by him or any other Malone who didn’t want to discuss their asshole sperm donor.

“No. He wasn’t.”

Her gaze never wavered from his face. “But it became more than that.”

Skimming his fingers over the condensation on the beer glass, he wondered just how much Felicity knew about his family—how much she knew about him, or why he’d left the Navy.

Then he shook himself. He could count on two fingers the number of people who knew exactly what his reasons were—one of them was his therapist and the other was the new guy—Crew—back at the ranch.

He carefully avoided the dark stuff. Not because he didn’t trust her—because he didn’t want to see her look at him differently, as she surely would if she knew.

Instead, he gave her the best stories of his time in the service. He shared his travels, anecdotes about the men he worked with and a tale or two about the camaraderie.

Intently, she listened, asking appropriate questions to keep him talking. Then he turned the conversation to her.

“What about you? What made you start a jewelry business?”

“It began as a hobby. I was working retail at the time, and it was a way to be creative in a dull, dead-end job. It was something to do with my hands. Soon, I realized people actually wanted to buy the things I made.”

“That’s great.” He could see the passion in her eyes.

“I started selling at local flea markets and festivals. Before long, I was selling out at every festival I traveled to.”

“Is that why you have the van?”

Mention of her unique ride made her light up even more. She glowed like a sunbeam as she spoke about her travels and the living quarters she created in the back of her van.

“If Felicity hadn’t asked me to stay with her, I’d be somewhere in the foothills now, glamping.”

He laughed but an undercurrent of concern hummed beneath the surface. The idea of her alone, vulnerable, didn’t sit well with him.

“In fact, I have a festival coming up soon.”

He studied her for indicators that she may be concerned about going off alone to this festival, especially if her ex might be lurking around. But she only beamed at him like the ray of sunshine he was starting to think of her as.

Their meals arrived, and they continued to talk while Gray watched how much pleasure Honor got from tasting the Italian dish she ordered. Each bite, she swallowed with relish, taking pleasure from the meal just like she seemed to get from everything she did in life.

Everything except the line at the post office, that was.

Again, he considered what happened between her and her ex and why she might be worried about him coming to Willowbrook. But now wasn’t the time to ask.

When they finished their food, the server cleared away their plates. “Dessert?”

Honor raised a brow at Gray as if challenging him.

“Sure.” He wasn’t much for sweets, but he wanted to draw out his time with her.

He spent years of his life making quick decisions in the cockpit, ones that meant life or death. But now he didn’t know whether or not to trust his feelings. His mind might be creating chemistry between him and Honor where there really wasn’t any. Instant attraction wasn’t a thing for him. Ever.

But every minute he spent with her, that pull between them seemed to grow stronger.

When they had slices of rich chocolate cake with three tiers and something the server called ganache between them, he found himself smiling again. “Maybe next time I can take you dancing.”

Her eyes gleamed. “You dance?”

“Not much, but I learn quick.”

“Country line dance?”

He gave her a crooked smile. “I’ve been known to give it a go.” He thought of Oaks’s wedding and how his sister had forced him into every dance including the damn Cupid Shuffle.

The sweet curve of Honor’s lips at his answer was even sweeter than dessert.

They remained at the table long after the last crumbs were devoured, talking about everything and nothing. He enjoyed himself so much that he almost forgot about the real reason he asked her to dinner until she gave him a nervous glance.

“I hate to bring this up…but you did mention a business matter.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Or was it just a ruse to get me to come to dinner with you?” She leaned toward him. The tumble of waves across her cheek was the most enchanting thing he’d ever seen.

“No ruse. But I’m glad you said yes.”

The soft look in her eyes told him that she liked hearing that he was interested in her.

“For what it’s worth, you didn’t need to mention business—I would have said yes to dinner anyway.”

His chest welled with an unusual heat which left him wondering if she’d experienced the same a moment before.

“Your sister Felicity might have mentioned the veteran therapy program we have at the ranch.”

A tiny crinkle in her brow appeared. She shook her head.

“My brother Oaks founded it after his closest friend lost his struggle with his mental health. A lot of vets suffer, and there aren’t many programs out there to help. We have about thirty men right now in the program.”

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

He dipped his head. “They receive therapy and have regular work on the ranch. Being outdoors with no pressure helps a lot, and they can do as much or as little as they need to.”

“Where do I come in?”

“Your jewelry class…” He swallowed hard, thinking of how to put into words the way he felt when he was simply stringing beads onto a wire. He shrugged. “It’s relaxing. A lot of vets could use something like that. Something to focus on, to work with their hands. I think they’d really like what you do.”

“You really think so?” Her brows lifted. He was noticing more and more just how expressive this woman was, how full of life.

“I know it. I’d like to invite you out to teach a class. I’ll pay your going rate. How soon can you come?”

Her expression softened. “Tomorrow?”

He didn’t expect her to agree to it quickly, but damn if he wasn’t glad she did. Because the truth was, he didn’t want his time with her to end. Today had been…great. Better than great.

When they left the restaurant, he led her to the truck. The parking lot was well-lit, but he still searched the shadows for danger out of habit. Before they reached the vehicle, he caught her by the hand.

She swung toward him. Standing close. Her gaze flicked to his mouth.

“Gray…”

He reached for her, one hand on the spine that had tormented him earlier in the night. Urging her closer, he did what he’d also been dying to do—he threaded his fingers into her thick hair and pulled her in.

The first brush of their lips set his veins humming. The soft sigh she emitted sent the blood pumping through them into overdrive.

He took it deeper, angling his head to sweep his tongue across hers. His fingers twitched on her spine, dragging her even closer.

Honor clutched his shoulders, digging her short nails into his muscle, swaying on tiptoe for more. Passion blasted through him. In a blink, he was no longer kissing her.

He was plundering her.

She arched into him, moaning as he angled his head the other way to test out the position.

I can think of thirty positions I’d like to get her in right now.

His cock throbbed. But so did his heart.

The damn thing was drumming so loud that it dulled some of his senses even as others spiked. Like his sense of smell. Honor’s scent was a mix of lemon and cake and something earthier, an unnamed spice.

He pressed her against the side of the truck, tearing his mouth away long enough to dive for her delectable throat. The instant he latched on to her with a soft suction, she issued a quivery sigh and gripped him against her, swaying into his mouth.

He kissed a path down the column to her collarbone and back up to her ear, savoring the little noises she made and dying to tear even louder ones from her.

Tear his name from her.

The cool metal of his truck was a sharp contrast to the heat surging between them. She molded her body to his, and Christ…he was hanging by a thread.

She gasped out, and he claimed the sound for his own by slamming his mouth over hers once more. The kiss, the tight clutch of her fingers in his shirt, damn near stole the last of his control.

As if she felt it too, she twisted her head, breaking the kiss.

Her chest heaved as she stared up at him. “Is this how you treat all your business partners?”

“Not even close.” He lunged for her again, claiming her mouth in a searing kiss even as he learned the curve of her waist, her ribs—

He stopped himself. With a shaky breath, he rested his forehead against hers. “Honor…”

“Gray…”

“I should take you home.”

For a heavy heartbeat, she didn’t move. The soft brush of her sigh crossed his face. “Yes.”

Swallowing hard, he forced himself to step back. She didn’t make a move to get in the truck either. Then she raised her hand and ran her fingers down his chest.

If he didn’t get a grip on himself, he was going to bend her over the truck. He reached past her and opened the door.

Reluctantly, she let her fingertips linger over his tie. With one more prolonged look, she slipped into the vehicle.

As soon as he closed the door, he regretted the barrier between them.

“Jesus Christ,” he murmured. He raked his fingers through his hair and tried to steady his pulse.

This thing between them? It was real. And if the kiss they shared was any indication…things were just getting started.