Page 14 of Silent Heart

“Harley! Watch out,” Carry yelped from under her fully loaded tray.

“Sorry!” I called after her, but she was already chugging through the packed seating area to her table.

That would have been horrible.

Breathing fast, I leaned against the hard wall behind me. The hard,warmwall—Kole. I knew his scent. Recognized his touch.

“You alright?” he murmured against the top of my head.

His touch loosened from my wrist, sliding up the inside of my arm and making my brain short circuit.

“Yeah,” I gulped.

Five more seconds. I could stay here, leaning against him, for just a moment more.Holy cow!The way he’d caught me had been nothing short of movie magic. The small,insignificantmoment set it to the current roaring inferno.

His touch slid back down the sensitive area before falling away.

I took a step forward, keenly aware of how my skinburnedfrom his touch.

“I left cash on the table. Didn’t want to bother you,” he rumbled.

Meeting his gaze made my heart flutter violently. “Okay, I’ll grab your change!”

He shook his head. “Nah, you’re good, Harley.”

It was probably because I wanted to hear the subtle warmth in his tone, but my insides turned to goo at the word good. Wewould be good, oh so good. Damn, but I couldn’t keep it together around him!

Things were only getting hotter the more time we spent around one another. He had to feel the impending explosion too. Right?

“Night,” he breathed.

I blinked, trying to come back from the haze of heat. “Oh, yeah, goodnight!”

A beat passed, and then he moved away, folding into the crowd and disappearing.

Chapter 7 – Harley

Coming out of the Piggly Wiggly, I hurried to where my grandma waited in her car. A wet spot from my freshly washed hair formed between my shoulder blades, but it would dry halfway through the church service.

Hopping nimbly from the driver’s seat, my grandma jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “So that’s the man you’ve been seeing.”

I choked on my inhale as the thoughts of how to sneak a still-warm doughnut from the box I carried instantly evaporated. “Swimming lessons, Grandma. Just a work thing. Strictly business.”

My grandmother held open the back door of her sedan, gaze swiveling between me and the man putting diesel in his truck over at the Stop and Go.

“And how did you knowthatis him?” I drawled, straightening.

“We’ve seen him around town.” Whatever else she was going to say cut off when she glanced at the boxes. “Where is the sheet cake? Harley? What’d you do?”

I looked at the boxes of sugar. “This was what they had waiting on the shelf for Redeemer Lutheran this morning.”

“There’s supposed to be a cake. We’re having a baptism this morning!” Grandma turned on her heel and marched inside.

One could only hope that the cake was somewhere. Or that they had another ready that icing script could be written on. If they didn’t, they were about to have an earful.

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, wondering how much time I had.Not enough to stand here waiting.Jumping into action, I tore the sticker seal and plucked two fresh doughnuts from the box.

By the time I sprinted across the parking lot to the gas station, Kole was replacing the nozzle. His gaze swept over me, taking in my Sunday best.

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