Page 53 of Mail-Order Bride Substitute
“How so?”
“Rocks are strong, immovable, and solid.” His heart beat beneath her ear, a steady, consistent sound.
“You mean stubborn?”
“Why do you make that sound like a bad thing? Isn’t stubborn the same as single-minded, or even dedicated?”
Laughter made his chest vibrate. “Dedicated, is it? Very well. I like the sound of that.”
She chuckled. “Do you want to hear more about what I did?”
“Yes. Please continue.”
“While I was drawing those little flowers by a rock I thought of a verse. It’s also from Psalm eighteen, ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.’” Her voice thickened as she spoke. Hopefully, Riley wouldn’t notice.
“Sounds like that Psalm means a lot to you.”
“It does.” She shifted, wanting to look at his face as she spoke. “I can honestly say that good came out of the way Gerald treated me. It caused me to look deep into God’s word and there I found solace and strength.”
His chin touched her forehead. An unfamiliar and exciting trickle raced through her. He lifted his head and ended the contact. “Did Gerald’s treatment also teach you to doubt love…to see love as dangerous?”
She felt the tension in his arms, the way his breath caught. She didn’t want to admit he was correct in his assessment.
“All wounds heal given enough time…and perhaps a soothing balm.”
“Balm?” He scoffed. “There is no balm for cruel treatment.”
“But there is.”
“Really? You’ve found it?”
She swallowed audibly. “I found healing in God’s word and knowing His love. But there is another balm as well.”
“Name it.”
“Accepting love from others.” Wanting nothing more than to help him, she slid her hand to the back of his neck and lifted her face to his. Her lips brushed his. Cool and then warm as she lingered, breathing in the same air he did.
At first, he was too surprised to react but that lasted only a second before he cupped his hand to the back of her head and returned the kiss. A heartbeat. Two. And a third before he pulled back and tucked her against his chest.
She buried her face against his shirt. “I’m so embarrassed.”
He adjusted the slicker across her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized it had slipped down.
“I don’t believe in love. Nor do I want it.” His words were hoarse
He’d misunderstood her. She wasn’t offering love. It was too risky. Made her too vulnerable. Being sheltered in his arms was enough for her. Except she wanted it to be permanent.
“You and I agree on that matter.”
“Good.” He continued to hold her close, protecting her from the elements, and yet something colder than the rain battering them flooded her insides.
13
Riley rubbed his lips together. She’d kissed him. Then denied it had anything to do with love. Not that such a statement surprised him. She’d been hurt by that false emotion even as he had. The knowledge made him hold her even more tightly.
The rain had not let up. They were to be stuck there until it did. Telling her about Nina had moved the accident and her death into the distance where he could view it with less pain than he ever had until now. Holding her in his arms, feeling her breath warm his chest, remembering her lips on his drove him to the brink of forgetting to keep the doors of his heart barred. He shifted his thoughts to another matter.
“Did you sketch more than one picture?”
