Page 10 of Trails of Temptation

I smiled to myself as I started to gather the dishes, listening to Grant quietly helping his wife out of her chair.

“I’m going to need to get a bigger belt if she keeps cooking like this,” he said, almost too quietly to hear as they turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

“Here,” George said softly, taking the dishes from my hands. “Let me help—”

“I-It’s okay,” I said quickly, but he ignored me, gathered up the empty dishes and bakeware, and strode into the kitchen. I sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. This was my shot. George and I were alone. Grant, Moira, and Day were upstairs, going to bed.

We were alone.

We are alone.

“George,” I breathed, trying to squeeze between him and the open dishwasher as he loaded dishes onto the shelves. “You don’t have to do that. It’s my job.”

“You’re hurt,” he replied, glancing down at the bandage on my finger.

“It’s a scratch,” I teased, nudging him with my hip as I took a plate from his hands. I put it in the dishwasher, acutely aware of the way his body brushed against mine as he stepped out of the way and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. I wiped my hand on a towel and turned to him as he pulled out a second beer, offering it to me.

His eyes were like two raw sapphires in the dim kitchen lighting. I caught a whisper of a smile touch his lips as I accepted the beer from him, smiling back at him in return.

I followed him outside onto the back porch. My heart was thrumming in my chest as I sat down next to him on the porch swing and sighed deeply as the cool night air touched my heated skin. I leaned my head back so the soft breeze could ripple over my neck, but then paused, opening my eyes to find him looking right at me, his gaze trained on the column of my throat.

“You don’t talk much,” I said.

He shrugged, taking a swing from his beer bottle. “Sometimes it’s nice to just sit and enjoy the silence. You should try it.”

I frowned, but caught the teasing look behind his beautiful eyes before he turned his attention to the sweeping, darkened pasture in the distance.

“Thank you for dinner,” he said after a moment.

“You’re welcome.” I smiled, but felt him shift his weight on the swing, almost like he was debating standing up and leaving. I didn’t want him to, but I was also a lot more bark than I was bite. Getting George’s attention seemed like a walk in a park whenever I talked to Moira about it, but now that I was sitting next to him? “Two summers ago… I—”

“I shouldn’t have come on to you like that,” he cut in.

“George, you didn’t—We didn’t do anything.”

“We danced.”

“Yeah, a lot of people danced at that party,” I reminded him cheerfully, ignoring the way my throat tightened around the obvious regret in his voice.

“But I danced withyou,” he said in a low whisper, his voice dropping an octave and turning rough. It sent a rush of heat licking down my spine as our eyes met again.

“Did you like it?”

“Of course.”

“Would you dance with me again?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. He ran his tongue along the inside of his lower lip as he internally debated something.

“I have to go—”

“Wait—” I placed a hand on his chest before my mind caught up to the action. He froze. Time seemed to stand still as I scrunched his shirt in my fist, pulling him closer to me until our noses were touching. He didn’t stop me. He didn’t go completely rigid. Instead, his hand caressed my cheek, rough against my skin.

Then I did what I’d wanted to do for years.

“George,” I whispered against his lips. I could feel his heart thundering in his chest as I leaned in, brushing my lips over his in invitation.

But then he pulled away and stood up, setting his beer bottle on the railing before storming off the porch.

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