The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,55

HOURS LATER, Avery opened her eyes and her vision adjusted to the darkened room. It took a few moments to realize where she was. She sat up with a stifled gasp. The last thing she remembered was the tender moment of Clark Gable tucking in Claudette Colbert as they resorted to spending the night in a hayfield.

And she’d fallen asleep, ever the romantic at heart. She’d missed the end and the trumpet and the walls of Jericho coming down—all the good stuff.

She would have expected Gray to wake her, but instead it appeared he’d covered her with a blanket and arranged a pillow behind her head.

Embarrassment washed over her as she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and then she stilled. As her gaze focused on the shadows, she noticed her handsome firefighter asleep in the chair across from the sofa, his head tipped back, feet propped on a leather ottoman. Not only had he tucked her in tightly, but he’d stayed, almost as if he were watching over her.

The thought made tears prick the backs of her eyes. She put aside the blanket, unsure how to deal with the emotions surging through her. She liked it here in Magnolia, even though she knew her stay couldn’t be permanent. There was no future for her in a sleepy Southern town, and definitely not with a sexy single dad.

He couldn’t be her firefighter. She’d already learned the difficult lesson that she could destroy people without even trying. There was no way she’d take that risk in Magnolia. Less than a month in town and the people here were already too important to her.

With the knowledge that she couldn’t stay came a particular kind of freedom. There was little risk to something inherently temporary, at least as far as Avery was concerned.

She stood slowly, pulse pounding, and moved toward Gray. Suddenly her reliance on a fleeting arrangement seemed naive. Of course she was risking something in wanting this man.

Rejection, for one, followed quickly by the potential for heartbreak.

But she couldn’t resist, not in the intimate stillness of the quiet house. Not with desire pumping a staccato tempo through her veins.

His eyes opened when her leg brushed against his. Before he could react or she could come to her senses, she leaned in and kissed him.

He tasted like vanilla and sleep. The stubble shadowing his jaw scratched her cheek, goose bumps prickling her skin.

“Is this a dream?” he asked, his voice husky.

“If you need it to be,” she answered.

Before she could pull back, he tugged her closer, lifting her hips so that she climbed onto the chair, straddling him with her knees pushed into the soft cushions.

He kissed her deep and slow, claiming her mouth as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him. Tonight’s kiss was a revelation, and her body practically melted as heat licked along her spine. After minutes—or maybe hours—he broke their embrace, cupping her face in his strong, calloused hands.

“This is real,” he said, his gaze intent on hers. “I don’t want either of us to forget that.”

Real. Avery turned the word over in her desire-drugged mind, a puzzle she couldn’t quite solve. Nothing in her life seemed real at the moment but she understood what he meant.

So close to Gray she felt grounded, held firm not just by his embrace but by their surprising bond. She’d felt untethered in her life, but this man was like a lighthouse in a storm, solid and true. Somehow she understood deep in her bones that he had the power to guide her home.

“Tonight,” she said, then swallowed when the word came out rougher than she wanted it to. “Tonight doesn’t have to mean anything.” She didn’t believe the words but spoke them with conviction, needing to convince them both. “It won’t change us.”

Although he didn’t offer her a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkled in a way that told her he was amused by her rationalization. “So it’s just physical?”

“Right.”

He moved his hands, tracing a finger along the edge of her jaw as he studied her.