“Not that I’m aware of.” When my eyes filled with tears again, I looked away from him.
Decker reached over and covered my hand with his. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. We’ll find out who killed her.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, looking back at him. “You’re so kind to me. I can’t—” Why did I have to keep dissolving into tears?
He reached out and brushed a tear away. “I made you a promise, and I’m going to keep it. Understand?”
I stared into his eyes, wondering why I was putting so much trust in a man who was practically a stranger. I’d seen him one time in my life prior to this: when I was a child. It wasn’t logical that I’d feel this comfortable around him based solely on that. The only answer I could come up with was that I didn’t see what other choice I had.
“Want to see one of my favorite places in Bluebell Creek?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
Decker took a deep breath. “I sure like seeing you smile, Mila.”
His lips were close enough that if I leaned forward just a little bit, I could kiss him. I wanted to so badly, but what would he think of me? What kind of woman would that make me in his eyes? A virtual stranger whose sister had just died, kissing him? He’d probably turn around, drive back to Austin, and put me on the next flight to Boston just to get rid of me.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he said, brushing my bottom lip with his finger, “but I want you to know you can trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“I hope this doesn’t make you change your mind.”
When Decker leaned forward and brushed my lips with his, it was as if every wall I’d erected around myself over the last few years came crumbling down. When he traced my lips with his tongue, I opened to him and then wrapped my arms around his neck. I deepened our kiss, not Decker, and when I felt him pulling away, I was mortified by how aggressive I’d been.
“Hey, now,” he murmured, stroking my cheek with his finger.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” I tried to back away, but Decker’s grip on me tightened.
“I hope the same thing came over you that came over me, sweetheart.”
My cheeks flushed, and I tried to look away from him. I brought my fingertips to my lips. No one had ever kissed me the way Deck just did.
“Do you know that I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I laid eyes on you?”
“You have?”
He brought his lips to mine again. As our tongues wound around each other’s, a need started to build from deep inside me. How long had I wondered if I’d ever experience desire, if I’d ever be able to react to a man with anything but fear?
Decker pulled back and looked into my eyes. “I wish I knew what you were thinking.”
“Maybe I’m thinking the same thing you are.”
“I have to admit, I’m thinking about how nice it would be to feel your body against mine.”
“Same,” I answered, hoping that if and when the time came for that to happen, I wouldn’t freeze up or find myself unable to go through with it.
Decker put the truck in gear, and soon, we were back out on a road that was very familiar to me. While my mama had been from Bluebell Creek, my daddy hailed from Austin. I remembered when I was a little girl, my parents, my sister, and I would drive this same route to visit my granddaddy.
Once my parents divorced, we moved in with him. We rarely saw my father after that, and the last time I did, was one of the worst days of my life.
Decker put his hand on my arm, startling me. “You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Just thinkin’ about my parents.”
“You keep in touch with Judd?”
Judd. God, I’d forgotten that’s what people called him. “Do you know him?”