Page 38 of Finding Her Leading Man

He shook his head. “Nope.” He tilted the trashcan his way and peered inside at her shattered phone. “No temper tantrums here.”

She tried hard not to laugh, so she looked down at her hands. “I guess that was pretty stupid of me to do that.”

“If you want, I’ll go with you later to get a new phone.”

“I thought you and Grayson had a meeting or something.” Geez, she knew his schedule at this point. “I mean, you said that yesterday at breakfast after your mom mentioned her flight plans, and I thought—”

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his fingertips lingering. She wanted to lean into his strength and not worry about Zara or Jasper or anything else. She wanted him to help her forget about her wedding dress and months of planning ruined.

But no.

He dropped his hand. “Nothing’s changed. My mom left this morning to fly home. The meeting is in a few minutes. Since I don’t plan on telling Grayson he’s pitching a temper tantrum; it shouldn’t last long. Instead of throwing a phone against the wall, Grayson likes to throwpeopleagainst walls.”

She smiled despite the pain in her stomach, beginning to flare to life again. “You don’t happen to have my antacids on you, do you?”

He cupped her cheek and leaned closer.

Her breath caught. His fresh scent surrounded her. His warm palm felt rough against her skin. Manly.

Trevor drew her to him. Nothing inside her wanted to resist, so she went willingly. Happiness was what she wanted after a month of misery.

The past few days had confirmed what Trevor told her last week. She’d given Jasper too much control over her life.

“Those people are not worth your tears or your pain, Sam.” His body shifted again, their mouths lining up but holding a few inches apart. His brown eyes reminded her of warm chocolate. “You deserve to be happy. I’m going to kiss you, Sam, because I want to. Not for my mom or anyone else. But for us.”

Her eyes closed. A tremor ran through her body. Fear? Excitement?

“Open your eyes.” His voice rough, barely a whisper. “I willneverhurt you the way he did.”

She wanted to believe him. And, for the moment, she would.

He bent down. Her eyes drifted closed again.

He kissed her.

The pain in her stomach eased. The sweet kiss against his soft lips caused her entire body to sigh as if to sayfinally.It was just beyond innocent. A level above simple. He shifted, his mouth slanting over hers, pressure increasing.

She responded, pulling him closer, wanting more. She’d had simple yesterday. Now, she wanted to feel.

Her lips parted. That was the only signal he needed. As smooth as an inhale, he deepened the kiss. His hand held the back of her head, keeping her in place.

His other hand squeezed her thigh before gliding up to hold onto her hip.

“I would say get a room, but it’s more like close the damn door.” Grayson’s voice pulled her back to reality, and they broke apart. “Sorry. I wouldn’t normally interrupt such important activities, but we have a meeting that starts in eight minutes, and we still need to drive out to Addie’s house.”

“Right.” Trevor’s hands disappeared from her body. His gaze remained fixed on her a moment longer, confirming the connection she’d felt. When he moved away, unfolding himself from the floor, the emptiness from before hit her like a massive wave, stealing with it her breath and energy.

He set the trash can back beside the door and looked back.

She scrambled to her feet, realizing she hadn’t moved. Just sat there like an idiot. Like she’d never been kissed before.

Or at least kissed with such tenderness before.

“Gotta work. I’ll pick you up to go get a new phone a little later.” He turned to leave.

“How will you find me if I don’t have a phone?”

He chuckled. “It’s Statem, Sam. Not New York.”

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