Page 14 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

“Would you like to walk in it with me now?”

Rory was mentally cursing herself for not staying in Kit’s arms. She almost had that kiss she’d been aching for. But once the timer had gone off, she’d gotten nervous. Begun having second thoughts. She had wondered at first if he simply wasn’t attracted to her, not enough to go at her pace. She knew that those feelings weren’t always a two-way street. But now, after seeing the look in his eyes before she’d pulled away, she was pretty sure he was.

However, there was no denying that Kit was a hard man to read. It might be that she was simply out of practice because she hadn’t been around people who weren’t either related to her or hired to help with her medical needs. Also Kit treated her like she was...well just Rory. Not a Gilbert from Gilbert Corners or the tragic heiress. With him she was just herself. And even though he was indecipherable, she wanted to kiss him, so now she was second-guessing every-dang-thing she did with him.

“Rory?”

“Hmm?” She couldn’t take her eyes off his mouth. His lips were full but not overly so; his mouth looked like it would be firm against hers, and from that one brief brush she’d had of his lips, it had been.

“Do you have shoes?” he asked.

She forced her gaze away from his mouth. “Yes, but...um... Okay, so the thing is, Dash is afraid I’ll fall because the ground is slippery and I think I should mention that Hank, my PT guy, also said I should be cautious.”

“What does that have to do with shoes?” he asked. “I know you have to take things slow. But we made it up and down that embankment. Do you trust me?”

She did.

It seemed to her that Kit might be the only man in the world to see her for who she was. Hank saw the muscles that had atrophied and needed exercise and routine to regain stamina. Dash and Conrad envisioned her as the broken girl who’d lain in a bed for ten years. But Kit... She wanted to believe he saw Rory. The woman whom shewantedto be.

“I do have shoes,” she murmured, “but sometimes I’m steadier in bare feet.”

“Let me take a look at the backyard and we can go stand out there if you like?”

“And walk?”

“Yes, walk. But not too far,” he promised. “Your brother would definitely kill me if anything happened to you.”

She laughed at that. “Are you afraid of him?”

“No. I’m sort of afraid for you. I don’t want to see you get hurt even though I know you need to try new things.”

“Ah, thank you. I was joking,” she said, at his fierce denial. “I forget you’re not really from around here. But everyone sort of holds my family in this odd way in town. Like the livelihood of the town is somehow tied to us. Anyway, that’s what I meant. Plus there’s the curse thing.”

“What curse?”

Darn! Why had she brought the curse up? “Well, everyone thinks that the Gilberts have been cursed since Grandfather closed the factory. That was the night we were in the accident and then the economy in the town started to fail. But then Conrad came back and I woke up from my coma and Dash is living here again...”

“So the curse is broken?” he asked.

“I’m not sure there ever was one, but I was out of it for a while...and missing walking in the rain,” she said.

“Let’s fix that.” He smiled gently. “Let me check the yard. I’ll be back.”

Kit toed off his socks and then opened the back door and stepped out onto the concrete pad that had recently been poured. She’d hired a crew that Indy had recommended to clean the debris from the backyard. The bushes and flowers were all overgrown but the grass had been recently mowed.

She watched as Kit took his time walking around the yard, checking the ground for stability before he turned back to her. The rain was soaking his T-shirt, making it cling to his shoulders and his chest. She felt that pulse go through her entire body, to her feminine core, and she stood there watching and wanting him.

Rory knew she was playing a dangerous game because she wasn’t entirely sure if she could be brave enough to take what she wanted. To follow through on what she now realized she wasn’t sure could walk away from.

“Ready?”

She hesitated as she stared at his hand held out toward her.

“It’s up to you,” he said.

Itwasup to her. She could stay in the kitchen, looking out at the world or she could take Kit’s hand...

She did it, put her palm in his and he wrapped his fingers around her hand, holding it securely as she took a step out of the house. She stood there as the rain fell on her. It was colder than she remembered rain being. She tipped her face up and felt it falling on her cheeks and her hair.

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