Page 9 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

This was going to get out of hand a bit too quickly.

Grady just knew it. He’d mostly lifted her up just to mess with her.

To tease her like he used to when she was younger.

He’d picked her up and hung her by her overalls in a tree in the backyard once when she’d been eleven and being particularly obnoxious.

He’d been twenty and probably should have known better, but damn, she had been being seriously annoying that day.

The girl he’d been dating at the time had thought it was hilarious.

Hala had not. Neither had Guthrie, who had lifted Hala the five feet down after she’d yelled for help. Hala had called him a whole list of names that day. She’d been so mad. He’d never forgotten her face that day.

But Grady thought maybe he’d misjudged a little now.

She just didn’t feel like he had thought she would.

He lifted his sisters when he hugged and pestered them all the time, especially Genesis—who he now had to call Genny or else the girl gang would kick his ass—since it irritated her so much.

He’d lifted Hala a time or dozen when she’d been a kid. But that was back then.

Now, she was a full-grown woman. Like she’d pointed out herself.

It didn’t feel the same at all. He wanted to hold her a lot closer. It had been a while since he’d held an attractive woman this close. Not that he thought of little Hala Hanan as a hot woman. Not really. She was just Greer’s pint-sized sidekick. That was all.

Right?

But it had changed. It seriously had changed.

So what that she smelled like blueberry lotion and…

crayons? And it was damned intriguing? That was just crazy.

But he wanted to just press his face against her neck and breathe her in.

See if she smelled like blueberries in other places.

To see just how soft she was. To taste her, to see if she had those freckles everywhere.

Hell, mostly…he just wanted to hold her as long as he could.

Grady liked holding her now. He hooked one arm around her waist. Pulled her as close as he dared get her.

He let one of his hands slip up and cup the back of her head.

Her hair felt like cool silk against his ranch-roughened fingers.

She had curly hair, cut just below her shoulders.

Dark and rich. She’d always had curly hair.

She’d looked like a brown-headed Little Orphan Annie as a kid. And had been extra scrawny.

Now her hair felt so damned soft. It smelled good, too.

She was only an inch or so taller than Genny. His sister was maybe five feet or so. Tiny. So was Hala. No denying that. Perfect.

Hala felt good in his arms. Like she fit there, or something. He tightened his hold around her waist. She was pressed as close to him as it was possible for a woman to be—with their clothes on, anyway.

His body tightened faster than it ever had before as he imagined holding her like this without clothing to get in their way. That little dress wouldn’t take much to get her out of.

He could get her to wrap her legs around his waist, and he’d carry her right down the hall to his bed. Where he’d do things to her. All sorts of things. All night long, if she’d just let him.

They’d burn together. Probably forever.

She was a star that would never burn out. Not her.

That was just crazy. This was Hala. He’d known her since Greer was in kindergarten or something. This was Hala.

What was he doing?

He practically dropped her like she’d scorched him. His hands came up to steady her though. He had thirteen plus inches on her and weighed twice what she did. Probably more. A guy would have to be careful loving a woman like her.

Yet this woman had the power to terrify him.

Hala Hanan shouldn’t ever have the power to terrify a man. That was just wrong. When had the world changed between them? How had it happened?

“Well, you seriously are the weirdest Hiller in existence, aren’t you?” She scowled up at him. Her freckles stood out on her cheeks. Her big brown eyes glared at him. She was so damned beautiful he almost lost his breath.

She didn’t look like a kindergarten teacher now. She looked like a dark-haired pissed off Tinkerbell more than anything. Not exactly something a guy would find irresistible. At least not him.

He had never been into the pixie cute type. That was more Gunn’s style.

She’d already said she’d date his twin brother. But not him.

Now that he thought about that, that stung. More than a little.

Of course. Women tended to want either of them at first, but when it came down to it, most preferred his brother over him in the end. It had happened multiple times before.

He knew he was only half the man his twin brother was. He’d known that for fifteen years, when they’d almost lost Greer. Nothing much had changed since then, and since Gunn had taken his appointment at the church, that had gotten even clearer to Grady.

This woman probably saw right through him to the fraud he was beneath. She always had liked to yank his chain when she could, too. He could have no secrets from her. She’d always see right through him.

That just pissed him off and had him doing probably one of the stupidest things he had ever done.

Grady scooped her off her feet again. And covered her mouth with his own when she squeaked in surprise.

Hala gasped, her mouth opening under his. Probably to curse at him or something. Well, he wasn’t going to give her a chance. She already knew what an asshole he was. Might as well just reinforce that now.

He pressed his lips to hers once, then pulled back. To give her a chance to tell him to stop. He’d stop the instant she told him no. Period. Always. But he wanted to kiss her more than he had ever wanted to kiss a woman before.

He really didn’t want to stop though. “Tell me no. You say it, and I’ll step back right now.”

She didn’t, though. Grady waited and then…he went for it. She could always kick him—again—if she didn’t like it.

His hand cupped the back of her head. His arm snuck around her waist, and he pulled her as close as he could get her.

Female curves pressed against him. Tempting him completely.

Hala had real curves there. He hadn’t noticed that before.

He sure as hell did now. She was tiny, but she wasn’t exactly scrawny now.

He wanted to touch, to feel her a hell of a lot closer.

Grady had to settle for just a kiss. She’d figure out what a jerk he was soon enough. And kick him even harder than she ever had before.

For now, he just held her close and kissed her.

Feeling pretty damned certain he’d just given her his soul forever.