Page 36 of Storm's Embrace

Miriam grimaced. “Oh, I need to make her stop doing that.” She started toward the den where she could go out the sliding glass door to her parents’ back yard.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Leah grabbed her wrist and dragged her in the opposite direction to the kitchen where her senses immediately filled with the delicious aroma of something cooking in the oven and she had a clear view of the back yard though the large bay window surrounding the breakfast nook. “Okay, now. Spill it, sister.”

Miriam grimaced, then said in a rush, “Eli kissed me.”

“He what?”

“Keep your voice down,” Miriam said, waving her hands up and down in a shushing motion as she kept her attention focused on her daughter’s shenanigans and her parents’ laughter. Zoë was making more of a mess than the trees had. At any other time, she would be enjoying the show. But this definitely wasn’t any other time. “He kissed me and we…we…” She bit her lip at the memory of being in Eli’s arms and turned back to her sister. “We—“

“You what?” Leah’s eyes widened, and then she gasped. “You had sex?”

“No,” Miriam said, furiously shaking his head. “At least, we didn’t get that far. We got caught before things could, well, progress.”

Leah covered her mouth, saying, “Oh no.”

“Oh, yes. And by Deidre Bennett.”

“Holy crap.”

Miriam nodded, wrinkling her nose. “Pretty much.”

“So, now what?” Leah said, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. Miriam sat in one across from her and shook her head.

“I’m not going back. That’s for sure.”

Leah frowned and pursed her lips. “Maybe Eli—“ The front doorbell ringing interrupted her. “Hold on.” Leah got up and left the kitchen as the doorbell rang again and again, while Miriam stared out the window to try and gather her thoughts. “I’m coming,” Leah called out. “Good grief, hang… Oh, hi.”

“I need to talk to Miriam.”

Miriam’s head snapped around at Eli’s deep—and if she wasn’t mistaken—irritated voice carrying to her from the front of the house. What was he doing here? Miriam bounded up from her chair and followed the sound of Leah making excuses for her. “She’s in the bathroom…um…puking.”

“She’s sick?”

Miriam peeked into the entryway to find Eli glaring down at Leah who was blocking his way with her arms held out at her sides. She held in her grin as Leah crouched and shuffled her feet back and forth like she was about to grapple with him each time he attempted to bypass her. “Where’s the bathroom? I’ll…” He looked up and caught Miriam’s gaze. Her amusement at the scene quickly vanished with his unwavering gaze. “We need to talk,” he growled over Leah’s head.

She shivered. “I don’t think so.”

“You heard herengagement cheating boy, she doesn’t want to talk.” Leah, the princess of snark.

Eli groaned, his brows drawing down. “Engagement…” He stepped around a complaining Leah who grabbed onto his arm and attempted to hold him back.

“I’ve got him,” Leah said, huffing and digging in her heels while her sneakers squealed against the hardwood floor as Eli dragged her along behind him.

“You really think I would kiss you like that if I was actually engaged?” He moved in closer, saying lower, “Touch you the way I did?”

The intensity of his hazel eyes bore into hers. She held his gaze, unable to look away at the heat building in their depths, until Leah muttered, “Kissingandtouching. Okay, that’s too much for my delicate ears.” She let go of Eli’s arm and gave him a light punch in the shoulder that he ignored. “Are you okay for me to leave you guys alone?”

Miriam focused first on Leah’s bemused face and then back to Eli’s, where he’d taken another step closer, and then nodded distractedly. Her sister went around them, singing under her breath, “Miriam and Eli sittin’ in a tree…”

Miriam sighed. “Sorry about my sister,” she told him, dipping her head. How could she be shy? Good grief, the man had seen her practically naked. Well, maybe not that much, but he’d seen more of her than any other man had in over six years.

Eli stepped into her—the heat of his body so close she wanted to burrow into him—and took her by the shoulders. “I’m not worried about Leah.” His gentle fingers tilted her head up. “But Iamworried about you.”

Miriam frowned up at him. “So you and Ms. Bennett broke up?”

Eli shook his head, his expression darkening before he glanced toward the living room to their right. “Let’s sit in there while I explain.”

He took her by the hand, his large fingers wrapping around hers and squeezing as he led her over to one of the couches, before turning and pulling her into his arms.

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