Page 55 of Weatherman

He turned to face me. “I don’t see why not, but it’s not up to me. I believe my job is to love and take care of my family and others as best as I can. That’s it. That’s one big reason why I joined the Dragon Runners. You won’t find judgment here. Not from Betsey. Not from Brick. Not from any of my brothers or their women.”

His fingers were cold as they traced my jaw and pulled me to him. “Not from me.”

There was a split second when I felt his breath against my lips before he covered them with his. Soft, dry, sweet. He didn’t open them. He didn’t bite at me or force his tongue into my mouth. It was a gentle contact that lasted a long time.

When Robert kissed me, it was nice and sweet, but nothing more than that. When Weatherman kissed me, all I could focus on was him. The shape of his lips, the texture of his skin, the movement of his hand as it cradled my chin—all of it combined into an intimacy I wasn’t prepared for.

He lifted his head just enough to break contact but stayed close. So close that his breath puffed warmly against my mouth.

Then he shifted me to straddle his lap before he pulled me to him again, this time firmer, wetter, and justmore. I opened in invitation, and he accepted, giving me his full taste as he explored mine.

My heart jumped once. Twice. The heat in my chest grew with intensity as that organ came alive and made its presence painfully known. I was sure he could tell it was pounding away in tandem with his.

I was completely torn. Half of me wanted to run away in fear, and the other half wanted to burrow deep into his body and find all his mysteries. Confusion filled my head, but there was one thing that was crystal clear.

I was falling in love with Weatherman—with Bryce Turner.

He ended the kiss, pulled back, and kept holding my waist. His grip tightened around my hips as he spoke with as much conviction as I’d ever heard. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I will say this. I don’t want you to date Pastor Bobby anymore. I want you to dateme.”

The burn in my chest flared. “I have a child.”

“You do, and I care about her too.”

“I’m not well educated. I didn’t go to college.”

“Doesn’t matter. Different people have different talents, and not all of them need four-year degrees.”

“I have a lot of baggage in my past that you don’t know about.”

“And when you’re ready to tell me, I’ll listen.”

Everything I said, he had an answer. Perhaps they were rehearsed, but he talked as if they came from his heart. My head was roaring with white noise as my heart melted away in my chest. I barely breathed as my whispered question came out almost inaudible. “How can you guarantee you won’t leave me?”

He stopped at that and raised a hand to run through my hair, then cupped the back of my head. “I can’t. Just like you can’t guaranteeyouwon’t leaveme.The only promise I can make is that I will always try my best to be the man you expect and need. We have a connection between us that’s not going to go away. Ithink it’s time we do something about it. Take a chance on me, babe.”

I rested my head on his shoulder as I sat on his lap. His arms wrapped me up to hold me close. Cheek to chest, belly to belly, hip to hip, every part of me touched every part of him, fusing us together as if we’d become one person.

“What are you thinking, sweetheart?” he rumbled under my ear.

“I’m scared,” I admitted.

“Me too.”

That took me by surprise. “Why are you scared?”

“I’ve dated a lot of women and had a few serious relationships, but nothing so significant that I got hurt. I did the breaking up, and I’m not proud of it, ’cause I hurt some people I cared a lot about. I think this time, I’m the one at risk.” He paused. “However, I don’t want to miss out onthis. If you’re ready to jump off that cliff with me, we’ll go together.”

“What if we fall to the bottom?”

“What if we find a trampoline and bounce higher?”

I stopped talking. We could spar with what-ifs all night. It all boiled down to him and me gambling on a future.Ourfuture.

Would there be one?

“It’s okay to let your heart beat again.”

It was. It pounded hard and fast, on fire, and so hot that I was afraid it would burst out of me to scorch everything around it to cinders.

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