Page 52 of Silent Heart

“I’ve never seen strawberries that look like this.” Kole held out a handful. He must have dismounted as well. Governor stood obediently behind him, tail swishing against his hindquarters.

“Thanks,” I said, holding open the tote.

Kole dropped all but one. He plucked the greens free before reaching out to me. “Open.”

Excitement tingled through me, shooting straight to my core.

Heaven help me, I did. My lips parted, and Kole stepped closer. The lush juices burst over my tongue in a myriad of flavors. It was sweet and warm. The little seeds crunched between my teeth.

Kole cupped my chin, his thumb sliding across my lips. “Your family bothers you.”

I swallowed. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Am I making it worse?” He tipped his head to the side, studying me as if I was the most fascinating creature alive.

I shook my head ever so slightly, but he still dropped his touch. “They are going to think all kinds of things. What we actually do won’t matter.”

“What we do,” he repeated. “I have to tell you something.”

Oh, lanta. Here it comes.I braced myself. “What is it?”

Uncertainty shifted through his features.

“I can’t promise you a future, Harley,” Kole murmured, and my heart fell heavy at those simple words. “But I can give you some of my present.”

It might be grasping at straws, but that was exactly what I did. “So I should come over after my shift tonight?” I breathed. He drew in a hard breath, nostrils flaring. “You haven’t hurt me,” I quickly added, “and I want to be with you.”

There. I said it. I admitted he was the first guy I actually found interesting, who I wanted to spend more time with and know on a more intimate level. I might not have explained it in so many words, but it was there all the same.

His voice turned rough. “You don’t know me.”

“But I trust you,” I countered.

He was keeping things from me. I told myself I didn’t care. That it didn’t matter. Because this wasn’t permanent. I craved more of whatever spell he had over me.

“What if you wake up some morning, and I’m not here?” he asked, voice impossibly soft.

I chewed on my lip in consideration. “I’m leaving in August. What if you wake up, and I’m gone?”

The ghost of something that could have been a smile played on his lips.

“It’s the present, Kole.”Please don’t end this before it starts.

He nodded once, silently agreeing. But…to what? That was the question. It felt like we were one step forward, a dozen backward. I didn’t know if we were continuing to explore this thing between us, or if I wasn’t coming over tonight.

“More berries?” he asked, avoiding the topic.

Following his lead, I bent and continued to forage for berries. The sun made these nuggets of red spill their juices at the slightest touch. I’d been so busy working that I didn’t realize it was already strawberry season. There were so many things I was missing out on this summer.

But it would be worth it. Becoming a veterinarian was my childhood dream.

“What are you going to do with these?” Kole asked.

He’d been talking more today than in the number of days I’d known him.

“Um, probably a pie. I don’t have time to puree them for French macarons, but they make thebestcookies!”

“Huh, can’t say that I’ve had either, but a strawberry pie sounds…tantalizing.”

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