Always On My Mind (The Sullivans #8)(55)

Every time he kissed Lori and tasted how fresh and sweet she was, Grayson felt as though he was being bathed in warm sunlight on a perfect summer day. And even now, as he kissed her beneath the moon and the stars, that warmth moved through his veins, pumping through a heart that had been cold for so long.

He never wanted to stop kissing her, never wanted to let go of the beautifully warm and sweet girl in his arms. A week ago, he would have made himself let go of her anyway. But her conversation with her sister was a reminder that she’d be leaving soon enough...and he wasn’t even close to having his fill of her yet. So instead of letting Lori go, Grayson pulled her closer.

And when she gasped her pleasure against his lips, it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

* * *

All the next day, Lori thought about the kiss Grayson had given her in the moonlight.

She wasn’t surprised to find that he had a deeply romantic side. Not when he’d been revealing himself to her in bits and pieces over the past two weeks without even realizing it. How gentle he’d been in coaxing a baby goat out of the blackberry bramble he’d gotten himself stuck in. The way he spoke to his horses in low, soothing tones as he groomed them. The care with which he picked up his prize hens to stroke their feathers. And, of course, his romantic side was even more fun when contrasted with his cranky-pants attitude during the work day.

Truth be told, there wasn’t a side of him she didn’t like, and more and more often she found herself wondering about the future...and if it could be possible for them to have one together. Could she figure out a way to combine the life she’d had before Grayson with the new one she’d found with him in the rolling pastures of Pescadero?

In two days she’d be heading to her mother’s house for the Sunday lunch she’d promised her sister she would attend. They’d want to know everything, and she knew she’d have to tell them about her ex, the farm, the work she’d done these past two weeks.

But what would she say about Grayson?

And how could she possibly explain what she’d found here with him without them seeing that she’d fallen head over heels in love with a man who couldn’t love her back?

Yes, she knew none of them had had an easy road to their own happily-ever-afters. Nonetheless, being the only one left in a family of joyously-in-love siblings wasn’t easy.

Going with Eric to help with the CSA pick-ups was bittersweet this time as she wondered whether it would be the last time she got to do it. After he dropped her off and drove back down the driveway, she found Grayson on top of the cottage roof.

“Hey, cowboy,” she called up to him, “you make a girl want to stare up at the blue sky forever.”

And it was true—even looking at him from a distance made her heart clench and her stomach twist and her breath come faster. She might only have loved him for a week, but that love ran so deeply through her that she could barely hold the words back sometimes, especially when he was kissing her and holding her in his strong arms at night.

He grinned down at her, the smile she so loved making her heart flip-flop around in her chest like crazy as he said, “Looking good down there, too, cowgirl.”

“Good enough to take a little break?” she said with a playful little flounce of her chest and hips.

“Hell, yeah,” he said in such a hot, sexy voice that her head spun and her knees grew weak. “Grab the small hammer from the kitchen counter for me and I’ll nail down these last couple of shingles.” He stripped her with his eyes. “And then I’ll nail you.”

Boy, did he know how to motivate her as she all but ran into the kitchen to get his hammer. But when she saw Sweetpea lying halfway off her bed of pillows and blankets, with her head turned in a slightly strange position, Lori immediately forgot about Grayson waiting for her on the roof.

“Baby, are you okay? Please be okay.”

She ran a gentle hand over the cat’s side and was beyond relieved to find her still warm and breathing. She immediately scooped her off the floor. Despite the special meals Lori had been making and hand feeding to her, Grayson’s cat had become terribly thin, so that every one of her ribs was showing. Even her tail, which had remained thick despite her illness, was now nearly hairless.

Lori was still sitting on the couch rocking the cat in her arms when Grayson came in the side door. “How long were you planning on making me wait for the—” He stopped cold as he saw her with Sweetpea. “Did something happen with Mo?”

For once, Lori didn’t correct him on the cat’s name. “I don’t think she feels very good tonight. But we’re just going to cuddle it out.”

Grayson sat beside them on the couch and ran a large hand over the cat’s skinny frame before placing it over Lori’s. They stayed just like that until long past the moment the cat fell peacefully asleep—the loner and the two strays who had refused to let him be alone.

Chapter Twenty-one

Early the next morning, Grayson forced himself to get up with the sun, despite having the most beautiful girl in the world in his bed, warm and soft and always ready for him. But when he went out into the kitchen to pound a quick cup of coffee, he immediately knew something was wrong.

It was Mo. She wasn’t making her little snuffling noises. She wasn’t blinking her eyes open to acknowledge his presence for a split second before going back to sleep away the rest of the morning.