Page 56 of A Cry in the Dark

“Now?” He sobered and pierced her gaze, sending a skitter along her nerves. “I’d never break a heart, Violet. But I told you my nickname earlier. So I can’t promise I won’t steal one.”

Slick. He’d been a little thieving delinquent.

“I’ve never stolen or broken a heart. And I’ve never been on the other side either. I’m not sure I’d know what it felt like.”

Without warning, he slid a stray hair behind her ear. “Heartbreak feels like weight on your chest, robbing you of breath until you suffocate. A stolen heart...well, that’s like a kiss that robs your breath while simultaneously breathing life into your body. You feel it everywhere,” he whispered and grazed her lips with his forefinger. “Here...” He trailed that same finger down her arm and chill bumps broke out. He intertwined their fingers. “Here,” he murmured. Arching his eyebrow, he lightly touched the skin below her collarbone; she swallowed, her mouth bone-dry. “Here.” His last whisper.

She held his gaze, anticipating and dreading a kiss.

As if reading her mind, he said, “I want to kiss you, Violet Rainwater. But I’m not going to. Not unless I’ve lived up to my name.”

She licked her parched lips.

He eyed them and sighed. “Not gonna be easy, if you keep distracting me like that.”

“I could seduce you into it.” She could be persuasive if she wanted to be. Did she want to be?

“Maybe.” His voice was raspy and alluring. “But we’re just gonna let it simmer, let all the spices marry.”

She was about to boil over right now. Never had she wanted a man to kiss her more, but she acquiesced. “Are you playing cat and mouse because you know I like the hunt?” He’d heard her conversation with Regis at the diner.

“One thing I don’t do...play games.”

She laid a hand on his forearm. “If this isn’t a game, then what is it?”

He leaned in, her awareness of him intensifying, and then his lips brushed her ear. “It’s intention.” His breath tickled her neck and zinged into her ribs causing a reactionary jolt. Pulling slightly away, he arrested her eyes. One beat. Two. “Now, come meet my daughter.”

A sudden weight dropped in her gut. She’d almost forgotten he had a very young daughter without a mom. If John was going to be stealing hearts, he needed to pick hearts that were mom material.

Which she was not.

Could he not see that? Was he blind? She followed him to the front door, and he rang the bell. Pumpkins and mums were arranged in a cozy fashion, and a big wooden sign with white painted letters read Happy Fall Y’all.

The door opened and a petite woman sharing the same dimples, blondish brown hair and warm brown eyes as John beamed, then her sight landed on Violet. “Welcome, Agent Rainwater.”

“You can call me Violet if you’d like.”

“That’s a pretty name. I’m Julie.”

“Thank you.” They entered a home Joanna Gaines would stamp with approval, and Violet smelled something delicious. Rich and decadent. Tomatoes. Garlic.

“I figured y’all would be hungry after a long drive so I cooked early. Made John’s favorite. Chicken parm. He texted me earlier and told me you liked it too.” Julie welcomed them inside the open floor plan. Toys littered the floor, and a cat perched on top of a bookshelf, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Swipe,” John murmured and winked.

His teasing about working on swiping her heart with a delicious dish better be just that. Teasing. He might have once been nicknamed Slick, but Violet had vaulted her heart so securely not even the most famous of thieves could crack it.

Two sweaty little boys zipped inside the back door. “Mama, Jacob threw my ball over the fence again.”

“He was hitting me with it!” the other child hollered in defense.

Julie folded her arms over her chest. “What have I told you two? Behave or neither of you go back outside.”

They huffed and skulked through the door they’d entered, shoulders slumped.

Julie shrugged. “Kids.”

“Daddy?”

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