The SEAL's Secret Heirs(24)

He was all man now.

Darker, harder, fiercer. And oh, how he had driven that fact home with nothing more than his mouth on hers. The feel of his lips had winnowed through her, sliding through her blood, waking it deliciously. Reminding her that she was all woman.

Telling her that she’d yet to fully explore what that meant.

Oh, sure, she’d kissed a few of the men she’d dated before she’d become a Professional Single Girl. But those chaste, dry pecks hadn’t compared with being kissed by someone like Kyle.

She couldn’t do it again. No matter how much she wanted to. No matter how little sleep she got that night and how little work she got done the next day because she couldn’t erase the goose bumps from her skin that had sprung up the instant Kyle had touched her.

When Clare Connelly called with a dinner invitation, Grace jumped on it, nearly crying with relief at the thought of a distraction. Clare was a pediatric nurse who’d cared for the twin babies in the harrowing days after their premature birth, and she and Grace had become good friends.

Grace arrived at the Waters Café just off Royal’s main street before Clare, so she took a seat at a four top and ordered a glass of wine while she waited. The café had been rebuilt as part of the revitalization of the downtown strip after the tornado had tried to wipe Royal off the map. The owners, Jim and Pam Waters, had nearly lost everything, but thanks to a good insurance policy and some neighborly folks, the café was going strong. Grace made it a point to eat there as often as possible, just to give good people her business.

Clare bustled through the door, her long blond hair still twisted up in her characteristic bun, likely because she’d just come from work at Royal Memorial. Grace waved, and then realized she wasn’t alone—Clare had her arm looped through another woman’s. Violet McCallum, who co-owned the Double M Ranch with her brother, Mac.

Wow, Grace hardly recognized her. Violet looked beautiful and was even wearing a dress instead of her usual boots and jeans. It had been a while since they’d seen each other. Not since they’d all met at Priceless, the antiques and craft store owned by Raina Patterson, to indulge in a girls’ night of stained glass making, which had been so much fun that Grace had picked it up as a new hobby.

“I had to drag her out of the house,” Clare said by way of greeting, laughing and pointing at Violet. It was a bit of a joke among the three ladies as Violet and Grace had done something similar for Clare when she’d been going through man troubles. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t. Hi, Violet!” Grace jumped up and embraced the auburn-haired woman. Violet gave her a one-armed hug in return and scuttled to a seat.

Grace and Clare settled into their own seats. Grace signaled the waitress, then leaned forward on her forearms to speak to Violet across the table. “What are you using on your skin? Because I’m investing in a truckload. You look positively luminous!”

Violet flinched and gave Grace a pained smile, which highlighted dark shadows in her friend’s eyes. “Thanks. It’s, um...my new apricot scrub. I’ll text you the name of it when I get home.”

“Sure,” Grace said enthusiastically, but it felt a little forced. Something was off with Violet but she didn’t want to pry. They’d been friends a long time. If Violet wanted to share what was up, she would. “Give me your hand, Clare. Dinner can’t officially start until we ooh and aah over your ring!”

A smile split Clare’s face, and she stuck her hand out, fingers spread in the classic pose of an engaged woman. “Stand back, ladies. This baby will blind you if you don’t give it the proper distance.”

Clare had recently gotten engaged to Dr. Parker Reese, a brilliant neonatal specialist at Royal Memorial, where they both worked. Their romance had been touch and go, framed by the desperate search for Maddie’s mother after the infant had been abandoned at a truck stop shortly after her birth. Margaret Garner had then gotten into her car and given birth to Maggie a little farther down the road, ultimately dying from the traumatic childbirth. So the twins had ended up separated. When Maggie ultimately went home with Liam and Hadley, they were unaware she had a sister. Thankfully, they’d eventually realized Maddie and Maggie were twins and thus both belonged with the Wades.

Of course, that had all been before Kyle had come home.

And that was a dumb thing to start thinking about. Grace pinched herself under the table, but it didn’t do any good. The kiss popped right back into her mind, exactly the thing she was trying to avoid thinking about.

Kyle was a difficult man to forget. She should know. She’d spent ten years trying to forget him and had failed spectacularly.