Page 65 of Avery's Hero

This can’t go anywhere.

Then he rasps, “I feel the same.”

My insides shimmer in a warm glowing light.

Who knows how I come up with my quick reply when my brain is sloshing around inside my head after that statement. I say, “I doubt that. You didn’t ride the Clydesdale last night.”

He chuckles in that low, sexy way. My ovaries jump to attention. Then they faint when he says, “God bless, Avery, you were made for me.”

I punch him lightly in the gut. “Careful there, stud. You’re gonna make me think you like me.”

He holds me away, at arm’s length, his hands wrapped around my upper arms. Eyes hard and serious, he says, “I don’t just like you, Avery, I want something more. You’ll call me crazy, but it’s the truth and I want it out there.”

Oh. My. Talk about coming out of left field. This is out of control.

Brock’s confessions are enough to make a girl need cardiac surgery.

“Sit. You look like you might faint.”

I blink and gasp for a few seconds as he directs me tothe stool at the counter. He helps me on, then wraps his arms around me, and tucks my cheek against his shoulder.

“Does the prospect of seeing me regularly give you anxiety?”

“Well, yeah. Doesn’t it do the same thing to you?”

“Not anxiety. Heartburn like I’ve swallowed a flaming sword, but not anxiety.”

I pinch at his stomach. “I hate to tell you this, but that’s not sexy. No woman wants to give a man heartburn.”

He laughs softly. “Honey, it’s not you. It’s the rest of the world. You are the balm, the comfort. The thing I didn’t know I needed until you made me realize it.”

He tips me back, holds my shoulders in his hands and looks right into my soul. “It’s going to be messy. I don’t care what it takes.”

I lick across my dry lips. “Brock. You can’t throw away your career.”

“I’ll get another. It’s not the first time I’ve reinvented myself.”

“Wait!” I croak, in a panic. “We’re not going to talk about you quitting your job. That’s insane.”

“It might come to that.”

I clutch my chest as he stares at me. “I must be in some kind of crazy movie or something. You did not just tell me you’d quit your job for me after only seeing me for a few days.”

He grips my chin, leans down, and kisses me. When he pulls back, he says, “A year.”

My groan is loud. “Please. You’ve lost your mind.”

He grins. “So have you. Admit it.”

I clutch his arms and drop my forehead to his pec. “Oh, I’ve lost my mind, alright. I think you knocked it right out of me last night.”

He laughs and kisses the top of my head. “I know a few other tricks.”

Worry tightens my throat. “Seriously, Brock. What are we going to do?”

“Figure it out as we go.”

The worry in my throat sinks to the bottom of my belly. “Easy for you to say.”

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