Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page B

races. He’s a great guy, lives here in town.”
    Suddenly Justice found himself disliking the other man. “You know him?”
    “Everyone does. He’s a big part of the community. He got married about three years ago. He and Charity just had their second child a couple of months ago. A boy.” She turned to face the open space. “This is it. What do you think?”
    He turned his attention to the store. The main room was maybe fifteen hundred square feet. He would guess there was a bit more in the back, for storage. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves dominated one wall. Big windows let in plenty of light.
    “I love the flooring,” Patience said, pointing to the hardwood covering. “It’s in great shape. I wouldn’t change that. Obviously the bookshelf stays. I thought about having doors put on the bottom for storage.”
    “You’ll need to change locks.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Probably.” She crossed to the back of the store. “This wall is where the magic happens. We’ll have a long, wide counter, with three sets of sinks. The dishwasher goes in the back.”
    She turned and walked forward three steps. “The main counter here. Pastry display, sandwiches, that sort of thing. Mom and I have picked out the most fabulous cold case.” She spread out her hands, as if demonstrating where it would all be.
    “We’ve been looking online for months. We know what fixtures we want.” Her smile widened. “I spent the morning finding out what was in stock. It was so surreal. When I’m done here, I’m going to talk to a lawyer about the lease.”
    She clapped her hands together and spun in a circle. “I can’t believe it. We’re going to do this. We’re going to open Brew-haha.”
    Her whole body personified happiness. Her hair swung as she moved, her eyes drifted closed. She was completely in the moment, excited, hopeful and sexy as hell.
    When the side of her foot hit an open box, she staggered a little. Justice instinctively reached to steady her. The second his fingers closed around her arm, he knew he was lost and there was only one way to be found.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    P ATIENCE OPENED HER eyes as she tried to regain her balance. Warm, strong arms came around her. Justice pulled her so close she had no choice but to settle against him. One second she was in danger of falling, and the next she was staring up into his dark blue eyes. Her head was still spinning, but this time for a very different reason.
    She rested her hands on his shoulders because it seemed the most sensible place for them to be. She saw sunlight streaming through the bare windows and tiny dust motes floating in the air. Felt her heart beating too quickly and the intensity of Justice’s gaze.
    Then he was lowering his head. She had only a second to catch her breath before his mouth brushed against hers.
    His lips were firm. Not unyielding, exactly, but determined. He was taking charge, and under the circumstances, she was good with that. She’d had enough responsibility in her life, thank you very much.
    He moved his mouth slowly, gently, exploring, testing, as if he enjoyed what he was doing. She sank into him, giving herself up to the delicious pressure.
    She hadn’t been kissed by a man in a long time. Years, actually. She’d nearly forgotten the thrill of the closeness, the quivering in her belly, the hint that there could be more and that the more could take her breath away.
    She was aware of the smoothness of his shirt beneath her fingers, and the honed muscles under that. Of the way he was so much taller and broader and how she could picture herself leaning on him in more ways than this.
    Then his mouth moved a little more—back and forth, as if he was figuring out how it all was going to be. The first tingles began deep inside her, and thinking became more difficult. She could only feel. Feel his hands on her waist, his mouth on hers. Feel the rapid beating of her heart and the way her blood seemed to race faster and faster.
    He moved,