Page 77 of Saving Grace

The stalled-out air in my lungs burns. I swallow past the rock wedged in my throat. My hands fall from the doorframe and around her face. I open my mouth to say something, no sound comes. She’s all heart, this girl, but right now she’s letting her head lead. It’s steering her off course something fierce.

“Gracie,” I choke out. “Follow your gut. Your heart. It hasn’t put you wrong lately.”

“What if it doesn’t work out? What then? You go back to sitting on the floor in the middle of a laundry detergent storm?”

She thinks she’s responsible for my actions?

Fucking hell.

“Beautiful, the only thing I am going to do if you leave is be grateful you were ever here. That I had the chance to live my life with you in it, even for a little while.”

She sobs, screwing up her face, desperately trying to stem the tears.

I press my forehead to hers. “I’m not gonna lie, not having you around would suck.”

She huffs a strangled laugh.

“Gorgeous girl, my heart is all yours. For however long you want it.”

Her trembling fingers trace my jaw, and I lean away a little as those blue eyes follow where they go. I fight back my own emotions as they clog up the rest of the words I want to say to her. But tonight has already been enough.

“Come on, let’s bring your cake inside. We can’t leave that to spoil.”

“Never, but...” She takes a quick deep breath and grips the opening of my shirt. “Come here, first.”

I move into her space. Her arms slide around my neck. “I think I have what you caught, too. So, I’m going with my whims from now on.”

I smash my mouth to hers. She opens, soft but hungry. This time, the tug between us is so much more intense. As if changed somehow. My hands capture her face. Hers work into a tangle in the opening of my shirt. My cock is hard instantaneously. The effect this girl has on me is something otherworldly.

Her fine features.

Her laughter.

Her tears.

Her strong and determined ways.

Her heart . . .

She’s all heart, my Grace.

Chapter Twenty

GRACE

Ipull Mack forward as I pad backward to my bed. Every part of my body tingles, lit up and waiting for his touch. This feels much different to our fooling around. We both know our relationship, or whatever it is that hangs between us, has changed. It’s deeper. More all-consuming.

My heart rattles in its cage.

I can’t get close enough.

The back of my legs hit the bed, and I break from the kiss, breathless.

He’s stunning. All angles and jawline. Dark hair, messed up. Blue eyes, darker still. His chest heaves.

He’s hard.

He’s strung out.

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