Page 10 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

“Yes.”

He moved slowly as he’d promised, and with her hand on his shoulder for balance, she found her footing without too much problem. In fact, it felt at times he was going too slow, but she knew that caution was needed. She realized about halfway down that she was holding her breath and reminded herself to breathe.

When they got to the bottom, she felt like she was going to cry. She blinked a bunch of times, keeping the tears in, but did take out her phone and snap a picture of the path she’d come down.

“Want me to take your picture next to it?” he asked.

“Yes, that would be nice.” She handed him her phone. “I’m trying to document all my firsts so I can look back on it on the bad days.”

“Good idea.”

He watched her for a minute and then lifted the camera phone. She wondered what he saw through the viewfinder. Kit made her feel different, more like a woman than a sister or a patient. Which, let’s face it, was totally a good thing.

But the butterflies in her stomach as he moved around trying to find the right angle...she wasn’t sure what they meant. Of course, she liked him and hehadsaid he wanted her...so now she couldn’t help watching him and wanting him, too. Wanting to feel his arms around her and his mouth on hers.

He moved toward the river to get a good position of her and the trail, and she looked up at where she’d come from and felt like screaming for joy. But it came out as a little yelp as she turned and smiled at Kit.

He snapped her picture and then came over and put his arm around her shoulder, careful not to pull her off balance, and took a selfie of the two of them.

Then he turned his head and looked down at her. Their eyes met and something passed between them. Something electric.

She had no idea what she’d do if he lowered his head and kissed her. She knew she’d kissed boys before. Rory had never let being an heiress get in the way of living the life she wanted. But she had also been sexually attacked just before she went into her coma, which made her hesitate. All the thoughts she’d been having about his mouth and his body. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure she was ready for a kiss.

What if she kissed like a high schooler instead of a woman? What if she totally sucked at it because it had been a long time since she’d locked lips with anyone? What if...and this was the scariest thought of them all, what if his kiss made her remember the man who attacked her and she freaked?

She chewed her lower lip...just watching him.

Waiting to see what would happened next. But then Kit cleared his throat and handed her phone back to her.

“Where are these blackberries I’ve heard so much about?”

“That way,” she said, pointing toward the left.

She took her time putting her phone away, trying to calm the disappointment that was coursing through her. She wanted to kiss him. Had almost given in to the impulse but had stopped herself. One thing at a time.

But thinking about Kit and his firm mouth that was smiling at her as he waited for her to start walking toward the blackberries was a distraction. The best kind of distraction. Her body was alive in a way that it hadn’t been despite all the months she’d been out of her coma. Those butterflies were back in her stomach and they made her feel warm and fuzzy all over.

It was like how she’d felt when she’d walked for the first time without the Zimmer frame or how it had felt when she’d eaten ice cream and realized how much she loved it.

But this time it was Kit giving her all the feels. Making her hum and vibe to something that she didn’t really understand but she craved more of.

There was still so much that she hadn’t realized she’d been missing until this moment.

Until Kit.

Nothing was going according to plan, and he knew that when he got home Aunt Mal was going to expect a report. But he realized he wasn’t going to share this with her. This afternoon had made him feel like...well, in a way he hadn’t in a very long time.

Kit was experiencing something with Rory that he hadn’t with anyone else before.

He needed time to reassess and figure out how he was going forward...but not now. A small smile flickered on his lips as he watched Rory. She’d taken a folded cloth bag from the crossbody she’d been carrying and they’d put the blackberries in it as they picked them. Then she brushed one on the skirt of her long dress before putting it in her mouth and closing her eyes.

“Perfect. Sweet but with just a tiny bit of tartness. Try one,” she said, brushing another one on her skirt and holding it up to him.

Her fingers grazed his lips as she put the berry in his mouth. He stood stock-still, willing his body not to react to her closeness, but it took every ounce of his control and he didn’t entirely succeed. He chewed the berry while looking at Rory and noticed her blush when he winked at her and said, “Tart and sweet just like you.”

She turned away slowly and they continued picking berries. “I can’t remember, but Dash and Con said we used to do this on our property when we were growing up.”

“Is that why you wanted to do it again?”

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