Steal My Magnolia (Love at First Sight #3) - Karla Sorensen Page 0,72
hands in my hair. "I swear that's not how this is."
"It's how it feels, though." Magnolia snatched her boots, shoving her feet inside them, and I panicked.
"Fuck, please don't go like this." I laid my hands on hers.
"Get your hands off me," she said, icy cold. "I may be a lady, but if you touch me without my permission, I will feed you your testicles one at a time."
Immediately, I snatched my hands away. My throat was tight, and it was hard to breathe properly. Everything in the tent felt small and cramped by how horribly I'd bungled this.
But it was so, so much worse when the sound of a large truck got louder—then stopped—right outside the tent.
She looked at me, hands frozen on the laces.
A car door slammed. "Wakey, wakey, brother."
"Oh, my Lord," Magnolia whispered.
"If you want, just stay in here," I whispered back. "They don't have to know you were here."
For a second, I thought she'd do it when I saw the slump of relief in her shoulders.
But then her chin lifted and determination shone brightly in those eyes I loved. "I'm not hiding from anything anymore."
It was almost painful how much I wanted to kiss her at that moment. She could see it too because her gaze locked onto my mouth, and she heaved a regretful sigh.
"Be right out," I called.
Another car door slammed, and I knew Grace wasn't alone.
I pulled the zipper on the tent entrance and slowly straightened, emitting a groan at the ability to stand fully after the entire night in the tent. Grace was by the truck, whispering to Tucker as they stared at the creek. In her hands were two cups of coffee.
"You disappeared, you jerk," she said as she turned, a bright smile on her face. "You could've told someone you were ..."
Her voice trailed off, and I knew Magnolia had exited the tent after me. Tucker's mouth fell open. He snapped it shut instantly, color flooding his cheeks.
"Holy hell," Grace whispered, and both coffees fell out of her hands.
Chapter 21
Magnolia
I'd never been so happy for my backpack because it hid the tremor in my hands where my fingers curled tightly around the straps. I'd never been so happy for something to hold my attention—the items I'd brought with me to this cursed campsite—because hastily shoving items into my backpack gave me a reason not to obsess over the shock on Grace’s and Tucker's faces.
My face was hot, my hands shaking like a leaf, and it was a miracle my legs were holding me.
"She works for you, Grady," Grace whispered fiercely, like I wasn't standing three feet away from her. "What is wrong with you?"
Grady stood tall and stoic next to me and folded up my chair when I didn't reach for it. My eyes glanced quickly up at him, and his skin was bone pale.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly to me.
"Are you going to ignore me?" his sister asked.
I wanted to shove one of her big combat boots right up her ass.
In the second I allowed my gaze to flicker dangerously in her direction, I saw Tucker take a few steps forward and speak quietly to the woman he loved.
That was what made all this so ... so ... utterly and completely insane.
He knew what that flick of my eyes meant.
I didn't lose my temper often, but when I did, I was like a beach ball held under the water for too long.
Whatever Tucker said, Grace nodded, and that just made the whole situation even stranger. He knew what to say to her too. He knew both of us.
The person he knew least in this whole situation was Grady.
Who'd dropped a veritable bomb on me right after the best kiss of my entire life.
"If I felt like I needed to explain myself to you, Grace, I would," Grady said, keeping his voice even. I knelt to the ground and pushed the rest of my clothes into my backpack. He did the same, and the heat from his body made something melt inside me but not the kind of melting I wanted.
I needed a wall of iron to get through this interaction unscathed. I needed my emotional reserves, something to prop me up so I didn't blow about a dozen gaskets on these crazy people and their crazy talk of love legends.
My hands started shaking again, and I saw Grady reach out to help me, then stop, pulling his hands back.
"I'll bring your sleeping bag to the office," he told me.