Page 34 of Valor (Long Hot Summer: Christian Romantic Suspense #2)

LANI

Dinner was lovely, and my heart is absolutely full.

Gibson drove us back to Pine Creek, but instead of taking me home, he’d stopped off at the park in the center of town. The same one we’d frequent when we were kids. We’ve been walking together, with me barefoot and him holding my shoes, for the last fifteen minutes.

I never want this night to end.

“Have I told you that you look beautiful?” Gibson asks, his gaze glittering in the moonlight. Gone is the awkwardness of earlier, replaced by the warmth of a first date that was so long overdue.

My cheeks heat, and I smile. “Only about a dozen times.”

“It still doesn’t seem to be enough,” he says, then reaches down to take my hand, weaving his fingers through mine. Warmth spreads through me from the touch, and I’m captivated by the moment.

In the quiet darkness, I fall even more in love with the man I’ve wanted my entire life.

What could ever spoil this moment?

Gibson stops walking, and I turn to face him. Since our height difference puts him a good foot above me, I tilt my face up to stare into his eyes.

He reaches forward and brushes a strand of hair from my face. “I don’t know how to say this without scaring you.”

“Scaring me?” I ask, arching a brow. “Lawson, you know I’m not a woman who scares easily. Have you met my brothers?”

He chuckles. “Fair enough.” Bending over, he sets my shoes gently on the ground beside us, then straightens again. “I’ve felt this way about you my entire life. I never dreamed you would feel the same, which is why I never acted on it. I married Kleo because I thought she and I could be happy. After she left—” He trails off and takes a deep breath. “It took me a long time to realize that the marriage failing was not my fault. Not entirely, anyway.”

“Not at all,” I tell him. “What she did was wrong, Gibson. She cheated, not you.”

“I know. Even back then, I’d known we were moving too fast. I mean, I’d known her for a while, but the relationship progressed so quickly and she’d made it clear that I either proposed or she was leaving. Given what I know now, that should have been a red flag.”

“Gibson, you don’t have to do this.” I place my hand on his chest, right above his beating heart.

“I need to,” he replies, then covers my hand with his. “Because I’d moved too fast then, and I don’t want to do that here. But—” He takes a deep breath. “Tell me you feel it too. Please. What’s between us. Put me out of my misery.”

Gibson looks terrified as he stands bathed in bright moonlight. Sliding my hand up, I cup his cheek. “I absolutely feel the same way. I’ve only been waiting for you to figure out where I fit in your life. And had it just been as friends, I would have?—”

He leans down and captures my lips with his.

I snake my arms around his neck, holding on to him, desperate to be close. So close. It’s as though every feeling I’ve ever carried for Gibson Lawson rushes through me in the same moment.

Love.

Friendship.

Forever.

They assault me, crashing into my heart like waves against rocks.

It’s not our first kiss. No, that belongs to a dare when we were thirteen. But it wasn’t anything like this.

He deepens the kiss, pulling me in closer so I’m pressed against his body. Seconds pass like this, but it might as well be hours as the world around us fades away, leaving just the two of us, wrapped in this embrace, our hearts on the line.

“You belong right here with me, Lani. In my arms.”

“Good,” is all I can manage. Stars dance in my vision, the moment sending me over the moon with absolute delight.

He captures my lips again, and I cling to him, hoping this night never ends.

The shrill tone of a cell phone rips through the moment, and Gibson pulls away, his breathing ragged as he rests his forehead against mine. “I wish I could ignore that, but I’m always on call.”

I laugh. “Answer it.”

Without pulling away from me, he reaches into his pocket and withdraws his cell phone. “Lawson,” he says, still breathless. “I’ll be right there. Fifteen minutes.” He ends the call and shoves it back in his pocket, then tilts my face up and kisses me again. “This conversation isn’t over, Hunt,” he tells me.

“Not even close, Lawson.”

Laughing, he pulls back and retrieves my shoes, then together we walk toward his truck. “I’m sorry about this. Deputy Brown said I’m needed at the station.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. You are the sheriff, after all. The town would tear at the seams without you.”

He grins and opens the door for me, but before he closes it, he leans in and kisses me again, burying his hands in my hair as his lips dance against mine. “I’ve waited so long for this,” he whispers. “And I need you to know that I’m all in on this, Lani. You’re all I want.”

“I’m all in too, Gibson.” I lean forward and kiss him quickly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

Instead of words, I grip the front of his shirt and pull him closer, then kiss him.

“That’s a great answer.” He laughs and pulls back, then closes the door and rushes around to the driver’s side. As soon as he’s behind the wheel, he reaches over and takes my hand as he pulls away from the curb and heads down the street toward my apartment building.

* * *

The smile on my face is so wide my cheeks are honestly starting to hurt, but I can’t be bothered to care.

Not even a little. Because Gibson’s hand is cupping my face, his other wrapped around my waist as he kisses me goodnight.

“I’ll call you tomorrow?” he asks.

“Better be sooner,” I reply as I pull away. “Call me when you get everything wrapped up? I have patient charts to go over, so I’ll be up for a while still.”

“Absolutely.” He grins and leans in to kiss me again. “Goodnight, Dr. Hunt.”

“Goodnight, Sheriff.”

He kisses me one final time, then steps back so I can unlock my door. After I step inside, I wave, then shut the door and flip the locks. As soon as it’s secured, I turn and lean back against it, both hands pressed to my chest right over my still-fluttering heart.

Gibson Lawson.

Finally.

I push off the door and reach for the light switch just inside my kitchen, my mind going over every amazing moment of tonight. Is this really happening? Or is this some wonderfully amazing dream I’ll wake up from?

Oh man, I hope not.

The fist comes out of nowhere. It slams into the side of my head, and I fall to the side, hitting the wall with a heavy thud, dazed and confused. Spots dance in my vision as I try to discern what’s happening. It takes me all of about two seconds to realize I’m being attacked.

A dark shadow lunges for me, so I rip the closest picture off the wall and swing as hard as I can. Glass shatters, and my attacker stumbles backward into the counter.

“He—” I start to scream, but my attacker is back steady on their feet and hitting me with the full weight of their body. I slam into the top of my glass coffee table, and pain shoots through my back as the glass shatters beneath the weight of our combined bodies.

My attacker remains on top of me, and something pinches my neck. I worry it’s glass, that it could have hit an artery, but before I can even fully process that, the horrifying truth settles over me.

My limbs go limp.

My eyes grow heavy.

And the pain subsides.

I’ve been drugged.

“Gibson,” I whisper, my attempt at calling for help. “Please—” Tears stream down my cheeks as I try to crawl away. I have to get away.

But as my body grows heavier and the sedation settles in, I fall completely immobile. The dark shadow looms over me, their face covered in a black ski mask and sunglasses.

God, please save me. Please, Lord, bring me out of this alive.