The Presence of Grace (Love and Loss Book 2)

“There are things I want to tell you, things I’ll need to tell you eventually, if we continue,” I started, unsure of where the sudden bravery came from. “But until I can, until I feel like it’s the right time or the right circumstance, I just need you to know that you make me happy.”


His face changed from confused and worried to a smile so bright and joyful, I couldn’t help but smile myself. And my God, he was handsome when he smiled. It never failed to make my breath catch. Before I could say anything ridiculous and embarrass myself, I stretched up and kissed him.

I kissed him softly, wanting to show him with the kiss that I was glad to be there, in his arms, at his house, with his kids. Happy to be with him. And I was. But what my kiss couldn’t say were all the heavy thoughts and memories weighing down my heart.

My hands tentatively reached for his waist, gripping the shirt there, gently twisting the fabric in my fingers, wanting him closer. His fingers feathered over my cheeks as his hands came to cradle my face. His lips were soft against mine, answering my gentle kiss with a tender one of his own. He moved forward just a little, forcing me to step backward, my back pressing into the railing but my front pressing deliciously hard against his.

With every press of his lips against mine, every touch of his tongue against mine, the heaviness in my heart seemed to become lighter, or less noticeable. When he kissed me, I wasn’t thinking about anything except his mouth on mine and his fingers threading through my hair. I was focused on how alive my body felt, how I was breathless for this man.

He eventually pulled away, like I knew he needed to, his forehead resting against mine as we both caught our breath.

“If my kids weren’t in there….” He only sounded mildly irritated, but he laughed regardless.

“Your kids are great,” I whispered, still trying to calm my body down from the effects of his kisses.

“Yeah.” He sighed. Then his mouth pressed a kiss to my cheek and the rest of my defenses simply crumbled around us. “Shall we go see if Ruby’s second batch of chocolate lava cakes turned out as good as the first?”

“You say chocolate and I’ll follow you anywhere,” I said with a smile, trying to hide the fact that I was falling desperately for the man right before his eyes.

He took my hand in his and led me inside, where the chocolate was just as good the second time around.





Chapter Fourteen

Grace

The door dinged as I pushed it open and I couldn’t help but smile at how “small town” the hardware store seemed to be.

Devon was at the register and his eyes shot to me when he heard the bell. He gave me a sexy smile, but then went right back to ringing up the man who looked to be purchasing a medium-sized power tool. I would never be the woman who could name tools on sight, but the man buying it looked capable enough.

I slowly wandered through the back aisles of the store, not wanting to disrupt his work. As I strolled through, letting my eyes graze over the many different kinds of painting tape and drop cloths he carried, I listened as Devon exchanged remodel horror stories with the customer, laughing along with him when the man admitted to purposefully dropping a can of paint on the couch his wife loved but he loathed.

When the door finally dinged again, I heard Devon call out.

“I know you’re back here somewhere.” His voice was playful and coming from the middle of the store so I knew he’d moved away from the register. I turned in his direction. I smiled when he rounded the aisle I was in, his face splitting into that sexy grin at finding me. “Hey,” he said as he closed the distance between us. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“It’s called a surprise,” I said, holding up the brown paper sack that held my most favorite Chinese takeout. “I brought you lunch. Well, I brought us lunch. Do you have time?”

His hands slid around my waist as he said, “Time for takeout and my son’s hot teacher? Yes. Yes, I have time.”

I laughed as he kissed me. He took the bag from me, then took my hand and led me to the office that was located behind the register. He had a chair at his computer and a big comfortable recliner in the corner that I sat in immediately, loving the way is seemed to hug me.

“What brings you by?” he asked as he unloaded the iconic white boxes from the paper sack.

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