Sweet Harmony (Harmony Falls #1) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,26
bottle and poured water across the bleeding scrape. Water and blood flowed to the ground and he rinsed it again before leaning over and studying her hand.
“It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches.”
“It’s just a scrape,” she said. “Thanks, but I really need -”
“It needs to be disinfected.” He was already unzipping the first aid kit and pulling out the disinfectant wipes.
He handed her the kit to hold while he ripped open the foil, and she tucked it under her arm before petting Tank who had wandered over. The big dog leaned against her, but she’d already planted her feet in anticipation and didn’t stumble. She patted the dog’s side as he pressed his big head against her ribs.
“Tank, sit,” she said.
The dog sat obediently, and she winced and pulled her foot free. “Not on my foot, silly boy.”
His tail thumped and he chuffed happily when she scratched under his collar with her left hand. “You’re a good boy, yes you are, you’re such a… ow!”
She yanked her right hand away, holding it protectively behind her back and glaring at Gideon. He flipped the wipe over to the clean side.
“That hurts,” she said.
He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that bad. Give me your hand.”
“No.”
“Grace.” He gave her a warning look, and she sighed and held her hand out again. He swiped the wipe across it, not that gently, and she winced as her palm stung and smarted.
“Ouch!” She tried to pull her hand back again, but he was on to her and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, holding her firmly. “Seriously, man, that hurts.”
“It’s a little sting,” he said. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“You try having disinfectant wiped across your bleeding and raw skin,” she said. “Then we’ll see who’s tough.”
He wiped the scrape again, ignoring the way she winced. When she tried to pull her hand away for a third time, he snorted and bent his head. She went stock still when he blew on the palm of her hand, every nerve in her body pinging to life and goosebumps erupting across her skin.
Her mind went blank, her nipples went hard, and her pussy went wet.
Gideon blew on the scrape again. “There. Is that better? Or do I need to give you a sucker to make you feel…”
His voice trailed off into a low groan when he glanced at her face. For a moment, the only sound was the rasp of Tank’s panting, the soft cry of a bird and the return call of its mate, the low buzz of the insects.
“Grace, don’t look at me like that.” His voice was dark and rough. She’d only heard it like that once before, and the memory of that night sent more goosebumps to the surface of her skin. Her scalp prickled with awareness, and she stared at his mouth as his thumb swept back and forth over the thudding pulse in her wrist, that soft, simple touch lighting her up like fireworks on the fourth of July.
“Gideon, please,” she whispered.
Chapter Six
“Okay, so tell me everything there is to know about Connor MacMillan.” Kira smiled at him as they walked.
The trail they were on was surprisingly quiet, especially considering the weirdly warm weather, but he took her hand anyway. “Just in case we see someone we know.”
She nodded, and he ignored the tingle of pleasure he felt from the softness of her palm. God, his lust for her was bad. He studied her with little sideway glances as they walked. She had to still be upset about potentially losing her job, but she was doing a remarkably good job of hiding it.
“Are you sure you want to do this tonight?” he asked. “We don’t have to. I know you’re worried about your job.”
“No, it’s fine.” Her smile looked a little fake around the edges. “It’s good to take my mind off of it, right?”
He didn’t reply and she widened her fake smile. “We need to do this tonight. If I can’t answer even simple questions about you, the fake relationship crumbles before it even gets started.”
“Yeah, okay.” He skirted around an exposed root in the path. “My birthday is June thirteenth. I’m an only child, my middle name is Robert, after my dad. My parents’ names are Gina and Rob. They own a mom and pop store in Willington. Both were born and raised in Willington, and they were high school sweethearts. My dad proposed to my mom the night they graduated from high school.”