Page 58 of A Twist of Faith
“No, I guess not at first.” He focused on the dark outline of the mountains in the distance to distract his mind off of her lips. “But you’re not alone, Dee. All of us make mistakes. Lots of us more than twice a week. Sometimes big and sometimes small. We’re all works in progress.”
Silence hung between them for a moment, then she pushed herself to a stand. “Then why even try, Reese?” Her words edged with a sting. “What’s the point? If you’re never going to meet the standards your God sets up for you, it seems like a waste of time and effort to try so hard to please him. I grew up with God’s expectations hammered into me. Why not just please yourself and die happy?”
He stood next to her. “Are you happy, Dee?”
She looked away and stomped up two more steps.
Reese followed.
“You know what? Week after week, I had God’s platitudes quoted to me. Do this and God will bless you. Do that and God will give you what you want? He doesn’t listen.”
“Christianity is one big to-do list for you, then?”
“It’s impossible.” She turned on him, her voice hoarse, and eyes glassy with unshed tears. “My dad tried and still died with a broken life. If we’re all going to fail anyway, then why even work to live up to some ridiculous standard?”
“That’sthe point, Dee.” He took her arm and trailed his hand down until his fingers entwined with hers. “We’re all going to fail on our own. You. Me. Your daddy. My mama. We can’t meet the standards we even set for ourselves most days, let alone God’s standards. We’re utterly lost.”
She pulled against his hold, but he held on and rubbed a thumb against the inside of her palm. Her resistance eased out with an exhausted sigh. Yeah, his mama had been right. Dee’s past fed her a diet of lies and impossible rules.
“But we’re never too lost, we can’t be found. That’s why we need Jesus.”
“Isn’t Jesus the one who gave us the impossible to-do list?”
Reese stepped closer and tilted her face up with a finger to her chin. “Here’s the difference between how you see God and how I see him. To me, he’s a loving Father, finder of the lost. God said if his kids couldn’t keep His list on their own, he’d complete it for them. So even if they failed, it would beHislist that counted,Histrack record, not theirs. No more lost kids. He came down to complete the to-do list to rescue us.”
She lifted a doubtful brow. “God completed His own standard? What do you—” Her eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Do you mean through Jesus?”
“It’s only when we toss up our hands and sayI can’t do itwe realize He loved us so much He did it for us.” Reese touched her cheek and whispered. “It’s called grace.”
“Grace,” she said the word like a little prayer, as if the meaning bloomed fresh and deep.
Cool air whispered around them as Reese waited for her to make the next move, lost in her questioning gaze. As if something clicked inside of her, she halved the space between them with a single step. It was the only prodding he needed.
He slid his hand around her waist and then, slowly, like preparing to taste something new and delicious, he moved in. Her eyes flickered closed and her hand rested against his chest. The smooth skin under his fingers at the side of her neck warmed him all the way to his pulse and urged him to bring his waiting to an end. She released a tiny gasp just before his mouth touched hers. His body jolted alive at the touch of her soft lips, slow and easy, savoring their sweetness. He paused, but her hand didn’t flinch, so he tasted her again. When he pulled back from her, she stood unmoving, eyes closed, as if frozen.
Maybe he wasn’t as good a kisser as he thought, but since she didn’t pull away … third times a charm?
He brought his lips to hers again, longer this time, sliding his palm up her spine to her mid-back. Just when he readied to end the failed moment, she sniffed a sob and eased forward, melting into him like thawing snow. Their breaths mingled, the taste quenching a long thirst. She slid one free hand from his chest up to the base of his neck to finger his hair and the simple touch pushed him deeper into the kiss, bringing her with him.
He didn’t have to hold to her anymore. One of her fists gripped at his shirt, the other at his hair, drawing him closer. Man alive, he could suffocate from the pure heat shooting from her body to his.
Daydreaming couldn’t compare to the real thing. No, siree. She smelled like apples and tasted just as sweet, and hot. Like fresh apple cobbler. Her hearty response sure calmed any of his insecurities. After all, he’d been out of kissing practice for a while, but Dee didn’t appear to notice. As a matter of fact, she seemed to like the practice as much as he did. Shoot, with this much practice, they’d become experts in no time.
Dee could counther kissing experiences on two fingers, and neither ended well. Reese Mitchell’s gentle introduction easily surpassed anything she’d known—much like everything else about him. Large and strong enough to break her in half if he wanted, he reigned in all that energy and eased it out in delightful dosages.
The emotions raining through her body overwhelmed her senses. She couldn’t move, could barely breathe. Intoxicating tenderness poured from him, breaking her resolve and opening a swell of affection. Oh what agentleman!
Cradling her face in his rough hands, her reserve vanished at the tenderness in his third kiss. He coaxed her to trust him. Urged her to believe in her deepest hopes, and fall, unafraid, into his arms. A tightened band around her will loosened and rested in the heady sensation of his touch. He gave and promised so much in a single kiss.
He drew back, keeping his hand against her cheek. His gaze swept over her face, cherishing her from brow to chin. She held her quivering breath, knowing the magical moment would break and shatter into another untouchable memory.
“Wow.” His voice hummed into the silence.
Exactly.
“Now I can check that off my to-do list.” His thumb skimmed across her lips as he cradled her chin in his hand.
“What,” she whispered, tingles still hovering over her skin in pleasant waves.
