Page 72 of Rival Hearts

She picked up the coffee and smelled it, smiling across the top. “My favorite hazelnut. I could get used to this.”

I returned her smile, loving the ease between us. “Me too.”

All thoughts of going to LA vanished from my head.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Maggie

Sundays were my favorite. It was the only day of the week when the pharmacy was closed, and I didn’t work a twelve-to-fourteen-hour day. Rolling onto my side, I plucked a berry from the bowl balanced on Grady’s taut stomach. His arm was behind his head, and he was chewing, contemplating something, grabbing berries from the bowl at regular intervals.

He’d made me pancakes and brought them to bed. Waking up with him and not having to rush out of the house was an added bonus. Next Saturday was the Small Town Saviors extravaganza, and I had to meet Lila later to go over what still needed to be done. Despite all the extra work, I felt good about how much money we were projected to raise.

“What are you thinking about?” I ran my hand through his hair, toying with the ends, twisting them between my fingers.

He grinned but didn’t look at me. “You. Always you. You in this bed. You on the kitchen counter. You on the floor. You on a table. Want me to keep going?”

I laughed and kissed his cheek. He wrapped one arm around me, popped the last berry into his mouth, and slid the bowl ontothe nightstand. Having him here made me giddy. Champagne in my veins.

All these intense emotions scared the shit out of me.

When I let myself dwell on the fear, it doused all joy, so I covered my anxiety, shoved it down, pretended the fear wasn’t there. Everything bubbling up made me realize how much I’d kept other men at arm’s length. Emily had been right in that regard. Grady got under my skin, burrowed deep, and nestled next to my heart, stopping anyone else from getting too close.

Grady rolled us so he was propped above. He scanned my face and seemed to debate something.

“Out with it,” I said with a grin.

“I get why Trent wanted your help, but I’m not too clear on what you got out of the deal. A bunch of lies. Almost dragged into a court case. I guess it just hasn’t quite added up.”

Uneasiness settled over me at his questions. I should have expected it. I squirmed under him and pushed his shoulder, so he shifted to the side. He propped his head on his hand while he looked down at me. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn’t return the contact.

“You were so loyal to him, even when it might have been better to walk away.”

“What did Trent tell you?” Trent guarded my heart and secrets in the same way he guarded his own.

Grady narrowed his eyes and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “Why does that matter?”

“No point in repeating things you already know.” I glanced at him before looking at the ceiling. “What’d he tell you?”

He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Maggie May, you’re being evasive. I’m an open book, and you’re still shut tight.”

Was he an open book? I hadn’t pushed him on anything he’d said or done the last few days. As far as I knew, he’d spent timeat his house writing. I didn’t know who he was writing for since he’d told me he couldn’t write for himself anymore.

“Are you an open book, Grady? There’s nothing going on I should know about?” Our first night together he’d been open and honest, but the next day there’d been a crack, a fracture. He’d brought me the coffee at the pharmacy and then when he’d stayed over that night, a piece of him had seemed like it had been somewhere else, already drifting away.

He collapsed onto his back. “I want to know about your side of the deal with Trent. After, you can ask me whatever you want, and I’ll answer.”

“Not exactly a comforting response.”

“I don’t know what you want to know.” He rolled again to face me. “You’re avoiding my question. I want to know why.”

“None of it is particularly flattering.”

“You think I give a shit about what’s flattering after the way I behaved? Nothing you say will change how I perceive you. You’re smart and funny and when you’re in a room, you’re the only woman I see. If you were in my head, it would probably freak you the fuck out how much I think about you.”

My stomach swooped, back on the roller coaster. Sometimes, the things he said made me think my fears were unjustified. Nothing spoken had passed between us the first time. We’d been closed off from each other, cautious, protecting ourselves from whatever had been building between us. Neither of us had understood what to do with how we felt.

After him, I’d spent a lot of time inching into emotional water with men, but I’d never gotten too deep. How did I know the deep end was safe this time, especially with Grady, the one who’d made me afraid in the first place?

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