Page 25 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

Grady’s daddy hadn’t raised a fool, that was for sure. The beautiful woman he’d been thinking about for days kissed him, well, he was going to kiss her back. He buried his fingers in those curls of hers again, and held her still.

He wanted a real kiss from Schoolmarm-Hala. He bet that sweet kindergarten teacher exterior hid the soul of a witch. It was the only explanation for how she made him burn all of a sudden like she had.

Maybe his mom had put it in his head—to make him think about her like this. He pretty much hadn’t stopped thinking about her since around that night. The kisses they’d shared had just made him burn all the hotter.

He deepened the kiss, but he wasn’t stupid.

They had two little boys that could run in at any moment.

And his brothers and sisters could be here at any time.

Although he didn’t really care if they caught them at all.

He could kiss this woman forever and be just fine with it.

No matter who else knew what he was thinking.

He’d never felt this way about a woman before. She’d done something to him, with that first simple kiss.

He pulled back first. He needed time to think. “You are dangerous to a man, Hala Hanan. Why didn’t I ever see that before?”

“I’m hardly dangerous to men, Grady. That’s not me at all.”

“The hell you’re not, and if I was even half a better man than I know I am, you’d never get away from me. I’m not sure I’m ever going to let you go now, either. You just better get prepared…”

He couldn’t help himself—he kissed the woman again. Grady just needed to now.