Page 42 of The Truth

“You pray. You ask for guidance, and you know that no matter what, people love you and will support you. You’ll do what you have to do. Because… I don’t think you would be asked to do this if youcouldn’tdo it.”

She just wrapped her arms around him and held him.

Gunn never wanted to let her go.

When she just looked up at him, he leaned down.

And for the first time, pressed his lips to hers.

Because it felt morerightthan anything with a woman ever had.

Gunn kissed the woman he wanted to hold, to love, forever.

Her first realkiss with him was in a barn, with baby cows all around them, after they’d been talking about a cult getting far too close to people he cared about. Ayla would never forget.

His lips were warm. That was her first thought. Her second wasWow.This was what kissing was all about. She had kissedoneboy in her life, and that had been a little sloppy and awkward and not something she had wanted to repeat.

This—her lips were tingling now.

She was surrounded by the feel of him, the scent. Ayla wanted to press closer. To just feel him as much as she could. His flannel shirt felt so soft beneath her fingers. She played with the buttons, but she didn’t dare do what she wanted.

Ayla wanted to unbutton his shirt and just feel if he was as hard, as muscled as she thought. Every nerve in her body was standing at attention.

Thiswas why Genny had had that rattled kind of look in her eyes whenever Chad kissed her.

Her lips parted more. And that was when he was kissing her. For real.

Ayla lost all sense of rational thought. She just pressed closer, and kissed him.

She just kissed him right back.

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Gunn forcedhimself to stay in control. This was the first time he had ever kissed the woman he wanted eternity with. Keeping that control was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her off. Just because he was a minister didn’t mean he wasn’t a healthy male in the prime of his life.

He made himself step back. To cup her cheeks gently when extraordinary blue eyes fluttered open. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were a little glassy. A little shocked looking, actually.

Gunn wanted to kiss her again. But he told himself to stick to his plan. She’d figure out the truth in his attentions eventually.

He wasn’t going to rush her. “You okay? I didn’t… overstep?”

“If you did, can you overstep again?” She just looked up at him. “I like kissing you. In fact, I think I like it a lot. Am I allowed to say that to a minister, though? Is it a sin?”

“No. I don’t think it is. As long as we behave ourselves.” Gunn took a risk. He scooped her up, right off the square bales and into his arms. He just wanted toholdher.

When he was holding her, the world felt a little moreright.He felt a little moreright, too. Like he was where he was meant to be.

“For how long? I mean… do you plan to kiss me again? I have heard recently that Hiller men should come with warning labels. I fully believe it. Ronnie told me she lost her head every time George kissed her when they were getting together. And well… Exhibit Aubrey-&-Guthrie kind of make that obvious. I can fully believe that. I mean, I don’t have a lot of experience or research to back that up, but… you can kiss me whenever you want. That’s what I am saying, anyway. I like it when you hold me. When you kiss me, too.”

And then the words just came out. Before he even realized what he was saying. “I want to hold you for the rest of my life.”

Those blue eyes just widened. “Gunn… I?—”

Whatever she would have said was interrupted. Grady burst in. He had Hala by the hand. Why did he have Hala by the hand?

It was obvious they’d been arguing. Hala’s face was flushed, her eyes big and glassy. But the way she was looking at Grady…

Gunn suspected they wanted some privacy.

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