Small-Town Sweetheart (The Spring Grove Series Book 2) Read online

  “Why not?”

  Something moves in his eyes, and then they drop to my mouth. My breath catches and my heart stops as he cups the back of my head. A sound leaves my lips just as he takes my mouth with his. My eyes widen but then fall shut as I melt into him. He tastes like peppermint, and oh God, dreams can’t come close to how good his lips feel on mine. I used to stay up at night, thinking of all the ways I would kiss Reed McElroy. Hard, soft, feathery, even lusty. The last being the kiss that would lead us to bed. This kiss, though, is a mix of soft and hard. There is an urgency but also a softness to his lips as his fingers tangle in my hair. His body is oh so hard against mine, and his other hand presses into the small of my back as he commands my lips.

  And I want nothing more than to stand at his attention.

  When he pulls back, it’s only a breath away, and he leaves me whimpering. In a dark and sensuous voice, Reed whispers, “It’s hard to talk to you when all I want to do is kiss you.”

  He lets me go and moves away. I open my eyes, widening them when I see his retreating back as he calls out, “See ya, Delaney.”

  My fingers come to my lips, and I swear they’re still tingling.

  What. In. The. World.

  Chapter Twelve

  Reed

  I’m unsure if kissing Delaney was my best plan, but it sure did feel like a damn good idea.

  A silly grin takes up my face as I toss a ball out into the field by my cabin. Wilbur runs as fast as his little legs let him and gets the ball before he comes up on the porch to give it back to me. We’ve been doing this for about an hour, and the pup still isn’t tired. Meanwhile, my thoughts consist of Delaney, Delaney, and a whole lot of Delaney. She tasted like the sweetest strawberry in the patch. Or raspberry. I’m unsure, but her gloss will star in many of my dreams.

  Not just the gloss, though. All of her.

  She thought she was coming in behind everyone at this morning’s service, but I saw her. She looked real pretty in that little skirt and the way her shirt was open a bit, showing off those gorgeous tits. Man, my mouth is still a bit dry. I liked her hair down, that’s for sure. She looked like a goddess. Well, a pissed-off one. If looks could cut, she’d have me in two, and I don’t think she’d mind. I like that. I like the fiery part of her.

  It bothers me that she seriously thought I would hurt her or even be mean to her. I’m not the snot-nosed kid I was, but then, maybe I haven’t been on my best behavior lately. I just hate that she truly thought I meant all those things the way I said them. I’m a sarcastic ass, she knows that, but she allowed me to hurt her feelings.

  “Ha, like she’d ever admit that.”

  I pull my cap down over my eyes after throwing the ball once more, watching Wilbur run with no cares in the world. Life is easier when all you do is take care of animals and not humans. I keep to myself for this very reason. I have a tendency of coming off jerkish, and then I can’t control my wants.

  And I want Delaney.

  Bad.

  I’m not sure if she wanted to kiss me, but she didn’t pull back at all. As a matter of fact, she fell into me, her body molding to mine. Fuck, she’s soft. Her hair is thick and smells like roses, and those lips are so plump. Just right for sucking. I exhale hard as I grin, my pants getting tight at just the thought of doing that again. I may have fucked up royally, but I sure don’t regret it. I wanted to kiss her, so I did. I want to do it again, but knowing Delaney, she’ll want to talk. I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to dissect it, and I definitely don’t want the town knowing. I just want to touch her, kiss her, and see what happens.

  As the sound of a truck against gravel meets me on the porch, I flick my cap up a bit so I can see who it is. Wilbur stands at the top of the stairs, hollering and barking as Theo gets out.

  He shuts the door and looks up to me. “Must be nice to be lazy as fuck.”

  I scoff. “I have seven more weeks to get through. If I want to lie on this bench and do nothing, I’m gonna do it.”

  He comes up the stairs, stopping at the top and leaning his elbow into the railing as he looks over at me. “So.”

  I raise a brow at his inquisitive tone. “So?”

  “I heard you kissed Delaney.”

  I hold my hands up as I sit up. “How in the hell did you hear that?” I glance at my watch. “It happened like two hours ago. This is why I hate this damn town. No one can keep their fucking mouth shut. Who saw us?”

  He chuckles loudly, reaching for Wilbur and loving him against his chest. “You know Gen and Del are close, right?”

  “Oh,” I say, nodding my head. “So, Del told Gen, and she told you?”

  “Exactly. Gen sent me over to see what your intentions are. Del doesn’t know I’m here. I’m supposed to say that.”

  “I’m not playing these little high school games.” I roll my eyes, falling back on the bench and pulling my cap back down. “Bye, Theo.”

  His laughter grows. “Gen is just worried that Del might feel more for you than you do for her.”

  “What the fuck?” I ask, sitting up once more. “I kissed her. I didn’t fuck her and leave. Wait, what do you mean? Del has feelings for me?”

  Theo gives me a “come on” look. “Don’t play like you never knew.”

  I’m mystified. “Never knew what?”

  He looks away. “She’s gonna kill me.”

  “Who?”

  “Del, dude. She’s had a thing for you since we were kids.”

  That actually surprises me. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Huh. I didn’t expect that. It makes sense; she was always trying to make me happy. Doing things for me. But then, she did them for everyone. She was good like that. She did look at me sometimes and I felt a bit like it was more than just friendship, but I never acted on it. I respected her, and I couldn’t do that to her. She was staying, I was leaving, and that’s still the case now. Yup, kissing her fucked things up royally. It was fine when I just wanted to keep kissing her and maybe take her to bed, but I can’t do feelings. Feelings are trouble.

  “I just wanted to kiss her.”

  He eyes me. “That’s it?”

  “Yeah,” I say with a shrug. “She looked beautiful.”

  “Ohhkay,” he says slowly, and then he shakes his head in disbelief. “You know I know you’re full of shit, right?”

  I laugh. “I don’t know that at all.”

  “Well, I do. Listen, don’t hurt her. We all love her around here, and she’s been hurt a lot. So, if it is only that, talk to her, tell her that.”

  Fucking talk. I hate talking.

  “All right.” I need this conversation to end.

  “What you got going on tonight?”

  I go to say nothing, but then I remember I have dinner plans. “I’m having dinner over at Mawmaw’s.”

  Theo’s face breaks into a grin. “With Delaney?”

  “No, Mawmaw.”

  “And Delaney. She lives there.”

  “No way.”

  “Yeah, she’s always lived there. She can’t leave her. Mawmaw worries. You know how it is.”

  I do, especially when Mawmaw was sick a while back. Holden even lived with her for a bit, but I expected Delaney to have her own little apartment. Something that would be bright like her, filled with dogs and flowers. “Well, that’s gonna be awkward.”

  “Sure is,” he teases with a grin. “Have a blast.”

  When he puts Wilbur down on the porch, I glare. “You come over to harass me about Delaney, and now you’re leaving?”

  He nods simply. “I came over to see how you would react to me knowing about Delaney. And it’s easy to say, this is gonna be real fun to watch how it plays out.”

  “Nothing is playing out.”

  “Dude, you don’t even know.”

  I’m met with more laughter as he heads to his truck. Even when he’s in it, his laughter is loud and booming.

  When I flip him off, he laughs harder.

  I