Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,31

never happen again.”

“She’s not your usual type,” Gideon said.

Preacher just shrugged. The little schoolteacher wasn’t his usual type and maybe that’s why he found her so damn hot. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about her and had masturbated three goddamn times this morning to the memory of fucking her.

Being in her pussy had been better than all of his fantasies about her. She was tighter and wetter than any woman he’d fucked before. All day he could barely concentrate on tattooing, and he’d stared at that goddamn tattoo bed so many fucking times, that Nolan had finally asked him what the fuck was up.

“You really shouldn’t sleep with her again,” Gideon said. “You’re a good guy, but she just got out of a long-term relationship and you two are,” he paused, “very different.”

“I know,” Preacher said. “Jesus, Gideon, I don’t want a fucking relationship with her. I told you, it was just sex and it’s not going to happen again.”

Of course, it’d be nice if he could stop thinking about fucking her again. Just the memory of her sweet little pussy had him half-hard right here in the goddamn pub. He knew where she lived, knew her apartment number. Maybe he could stop in and pretend he was checking on her tattoo or some shit like that, and –

And what? You hurt her when you fucked her, remember? You were such an impatient asshole that you hurt her. If you think she’s ever gonna let you near her pussy again, you’re crazy. You’ve fantasized for months about fucking the little schoolteacher and when you finally get the chance, you screw it up. You’re such an asshole.

Guilt replaced the lust and his dick went limp immediately. Shit, he was an asshole.

“Jesus, the next few barbeques are gonna be awkward as shit,” Gideon said.

“No, they won’t,” Preacher said. “We didn’t talk much before this and now I guarantee you, she’ll avoid me. She regretted fucking me the minute it was done. Women like her don’t let men like me between their legs.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Gideon said. “This, ‘I’m not worthy of someone like Addison Moore’ is complete bullshit. If you’d just let someone get close to you other than me, you’d realize that there are plenty of people who would care about you if you’d let them. Your past doesn’t define you. How many fucking times do I have to tell you that?”

Preacher just grunted, but, like always, there was a sense of relief at hearing what Gideon had said to him a hundred times before. Maybe it would only take another hundred times before he started to believe it.

“The only reason I’m saying to stay away from Addison is because she’s been with Harrison since they were teenagers and they’ve only been broken up since the spring. There’s no way she’s ready to be in another relationship yet,” Gideon said. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Preacher laughed. “Only you would worry about me being the one to get hurt by her.”

Gideon didn’t laugh. “It’s because I love you, man.”

Preacher could admit that it’d taken him a bit to get used to how freely and without any reservation or self-consciousness, that Gideon told him he loved him. After a lifetime of neglect from his parents and betrayal from men he thought were friends, his relationship with Gideon had evolved into the most important one of his life. If it wasn’t for Gideon, he’d be in a fucking prison cell again right now. He knew that as well as he knew his own name.

And, as fucking cheesy as this sounded, he would die for Gideon Walker. The sheriff had saved his life in more ways than he could count, and Preacher could spend a lifetime trying to repay the favour.

“Yeah, I know. I love you too,” he said, a little amazed all over again that he truly meant it and by how easy it was to say. “But you have to stop worrying about me like you’re my goddamn mother. I’m not going to get hurt by Addison Moore. She doesn’t mean anything to me and I sure as shit don’t mean anything to her.”

“All right. Did you hire that Nix guy?”

Relieved at the change in subject, Preacher said, “Yeah, called him Monday and offered him the job. He accepted and starts Thursday.”

A guy in a cowboy hat and a belt buckle strapped to his waist that was nearly the size of Preacher’s head stopped at their table. He stuck