Kiss Me Maybe (Princess Cruises Presents: Kindle Love Stories) (8 page)

Miah had no patience for morning chitchat and was just considering the merits of telling her so when her laugh split the air.

Something shot straight into his gut. The sound from her lips was deep, rumbling, almost smoky, rich as warm butter and sweet as mountain honey. He knew that laugh.

A slender hand reached up and captured some of the silken hair. Jeremiah’s mind rushed to catch up. This couldn’t be her. But that voice. When the guy in front of him moved and blocked Miah’s view, he sidestepped so he could see her fully, if only from behind. He was completely out of the line now and a heavyset woman rushed up to take his spot.

Who cared? His eyes trailed over the brunette, assessing the possibility. Right height. But wrong body shape. This woman had long, slender legs, a perfectly shaped rear end, a small waist. No, it wasn’t her. Miah stepped back into line a little surprised at the disappointment rising in his chest.

And that’s when she turned around.

“Gray?”

Mary Grace Smith almost dropped her tacos. She’d spun from the counter to hurry back to her car when a wide chest stepped out from the line and nearly body-slammed her. Her bottle of Coke teetered on the edge of her makeshift food tray. Choice words shot into her mind. What kind of person jumps in the face of someone carrying food? But then something registered as her gaze slid from the tray between them up over his chest, neckline, chin. He’d said her name. Finally, her eyes found his. And her heart stopped.

“Miah?” It was one word. Just his name. But having it on her lips and looking into that golden gaze caused a flurry of unwanted sensations.
Run. Run, run, run, run, run.

This was a bad dream; that was all. A bad dream where she’d awaken drenched in sweat. Of course, she’d known the odds of seeing him. She’d heard he was returning to River Rock. And suddenly, with Jeremiah in front of her, blocking her exit, River Rock seemed smaller. Too small.

He was all wide smile and animated eyes as he said, “Wow, I . . . I didn’t know you were living here. Are you just visiting?”

Those eyes she’d watched for hundreds if not thousands of hours. Eyes that had, at one time in her life, entranced her. Eyes she’d drowned in. Of course, everyone who met Jeremiah was hopelessly trapped in his golden gaze. Add to that the ridiculously chiseled features of a Greek god and that magnetic personality. He was the triple threat. Miah made you feel like you were the only woman on the planet. Even if you were the checker at the Piggly Wiggly and all you were doing was scanning his food. She’d actually seen women swoon. And that right there was why Gray took a full step back.

He didn’t seem to notice as he waited—perfect smile in place—for her to answer. Gray mustered her composure. “I just moved back. A few months ago.”

“It’s great to see you.” His brows were riding high, all excitement and anticipation. The sunlight behind him played in the strands of his light brown hair.

Gray steeled herself. “You too.” She nearly choked on the words getting them out, and as quickly as she’d run into him, she could run away. “Well, better get going.”

When she stepped around his wide shoulders, he caught her arm.

Don
’
t look up. Don
’
t look
up.
But her eyes had a mind of their own and trailed to his. The tiniest of frowns creased his forehead. He stood not more than a few inches from her, her shoulder pointing like an arrow at his heart.

“Gray,” he whispered, and the sound raced down her body and right into her soul. “We need to catch up.”

Gray bit her cheeks hard until she tasted blood on one side. She painted on a wide, cheery smile. “Oh, sure. Yes, you know, I’m so busy these days, Jeremiah. But I’m sure we’ll see each other in town now and then.” And she blinked, once, and again. The gentlest tug liberated her from his hand. Her feet fell into motion and before she knew it, she was at her car door.

She fumbled with the keys and the tacos and the cold drink until she managed to get in. Gray slammed the car door shut, closing out everything. Closing out Miah McKinley and his smile that melted hearts. When she shifted to put the keys in the ignition, her hands were trembling. Gray squeezed her eyes closed. The fact that one run-in with Miah could thoroughly wreck her, even after all this time, bit into her pride.

She glanced in the rearview mirror to find him standing in the same spot, one hand lifted to his forehead to block the sun. But from the safety of her car, it resembled a salute, and that shot into Gray’s heart and settled there. Miah’d lost his dad not much more than a year ago. And at that time, she hadn’t been able to stop her mind from trailing to him. How he was handling the news. Was he okay?

“It doesn’t matter,” she grumbled to herself as she started the car and backed out of the parking spot. She cast a fleeting glance to him and waved as she drove by. Gray breathed deeply, the scent of tacos a good replacement for the regret she tasted, even now.

She reminded herself that Miah was just a snippet from her past. And as she put her foot on the gas, she let the past go because it was her future she was interested in. Twenty miles down the road, David was waiting for her.

Photo © 2014 Melinda Hank

Heather Burch writes full-time and lives in Florida. Her debut novel was released in 2012 and garnered praise from
USA Today
,
Booklist
magazine
,
Romantic Times
, and
Publishers Weekly
. Her epic love story,
One Lavender Ribbon
, was an international bestseller and was one of the top 100 books on Amazon Kindle in 2014.
Down the Hidden Path
is the follow-up novel to
Along the Broken Road
, the first book in The Roads to River Rock series. Heather’s heartbeat is to tell unforgettable stories that make your heart sigh. Please visit
heatherburchbooks.com
for more about Heather. She loves to hear from readers!