Chapter 13 #2
She smiled and nodded. “It’s great. I’m excited to meet your ‘crazy family.’ The crazier the better in my opinion.”
He gave her half of a smile. “You say that now …”
“No, I mean it. I’ve got this insane Aunt Doris. She’s given me more book fodder than even the voices shouting in my head.”
Gavin softly chuckled. “Did I give you any ‘book fodder’?”
Kari’s stomach tightened and her pulse picked up. “Our kisses were too special for me to share with anyone.”
His eyes widened and his chest rose and fell quickly.
“But you and Austin have both inspired me and I wrote like the wind the past two weeks.”
His gaze traveled over her face. “I missed seeing how … alive you are.”
Kari flushed but tilted her head in what hoped was a sassy manner. “Is that all you missed?”
Gavin’s true, full smile came then, and all the oxygen fled from her lungs.
“No.” His voice dropped deep and gravelly.
“I missed the happiness you bring to me and Austin, I missed the—” He swallowed and muttered, “Cute way you talk. I missed the way you smell. And I missed the way your lips changed everything for me.”
Kari was breathless and speechless. His dark eyes had some definite vulnerability in them, and she imagined he didn’t talk like that to many people, maybe to no one. She put a hand over her heart and managed to say, “That was more beautiful than any flowery speech I’ve ever forced a hero to make.”
Gavin’s dark eyes softened, and he admitted, “It wasn’t easy for me to make … but it’s all true.”
“It means even more because I know you’re not the showy type of guy.”
He simply nodded and leaned across the console toward her.
Kari moved toward him. Their lips met in a simple, sweet kiss of promise and new beginnings.
She loved his kiss, his words, his scent, and his commitment and love of his family.
She could list his good characteristics and savor his lips all day.
Kari’s door swung open, and she gasped and pulled back.
“I wanted to meet the miracle worker,” a deep voice said from behind her.
“Rotten timing, Nick,” Gavin grunted out.
“Hopefully you can return the favor someday.”
Kari focused on the man holding her door.
He was almost a carbon copy of Gavin, broad and muscular.
There were only a couple of differences: the brother’s happy go-lucky smile reminded her more of Austin, and he had a vicious red scar that fanned along his neck and up his cheek to his hairline.
The damage looked recent, as if it was still healing.
“Hi, Nick.” She climbed out of the car and offered her hand. “I’m Kari Love.”
Nick’s grin broadened, and now he reminded her of her own brother. She was going to get teased. “Isn’t that perfect? My big brother needed some ‘love’ in his life.”
Gavin’s door slammed and he hurried around the car and to her side.
He didn’t reach for her hand like he had in the car, and he didn’t put an arm around her.
That was disappointing, but she knew he was stoic and closed off, and she had been pleasantly surprised with the hand-holding the past hour and a half.
More than pleasantly surprised by his beautiful words and tender kiss.
“Right, bro?” Nick asked.
“Don’t embarrass Kari,” Gavin grunted.
“Somehow I don’t think it’s Kari who’s embarrassed.” Nick gave her a wink that she imagined had made more than one woman weak in the knees.
“I am pretty tough to embarrass,” Kari admitted. Her brother had teased her for as long as she could remember; she was pretty immune to it.
Gavin raised his eyebrows and muttered, “Maybe we should just go to dinner at the lodge.”
“Come on, bro.” Nick laughed. “I’ll keep the family from teasing you too much.”
Gavin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”
Nick shrugged. “He’s right. It’s going to be a hailstorm in there. You up for it, Kari Love?”
She was up for anything if she could be with Gavin.
Yet unease stirred in her gut. If Gavin got uncomfortable with his family teasing him about her, would he push her away, ditch her?
She’d rather take his hand and run somewhere alone if that was going to happen.
They were just developing a relationship.
She didn’t want anything to disrupt the tender, beautiful feelings.
She looked to Gavin. He met her gaze and then gave her an almost imperceptible nod. He could handle this if she could. Squaring her shoulders, she looked back to Nick. “I’m tougher than I look,” she said.
Nick laughed. “Good for you.”
He gestured toward the house, and the three of them fell into step.
Kari wasn’t sure what to expect, but she loved being shoulder to shoulder with these two tough men.
She knew they were going into a safe, happy environment, but she felt like these two would protect her no matter what they faced.
If only Gavin would take her hand again.
Gavin flexed and released his fingers a few times as he, Kari, and Nick walked toward Mama’s front porch.
He wanted to take her hand again. It had felt natural and exciting to hold her hand during the drive here, but he worried what signal he might be sending to his family.
Most of his siblings hardly remembered Janielle and had never seen him holding a beautiful woman’s hand.
Would they freak out and embarrass him? Kari had said she didn’t embarrass easily, and she was probably telling the truth.
He didn’t want to be selfish, and he also didn’t want to mess up the best thing that had happened to him since Austin, so as Nick swung the door wide, Gavin wrapped his hand around hers before he could let himself chicken out.
Kari’s gaze darted to his as her warm palm slid against his and she laced their fingers together.
She gave him the sweetest smile, lighting up her beguiling blue eyes.
The words he’d said to her earlier were the sappiest he’d ever said in his life.
Heck, he’d never even thought words like that.
It didn’t come out as smooth or charming as he’d intended, and he couldn’t believe he’d said the word “cute,” but she hadn’t seemed to mind.
He’d been reading Kari’s books every spare minute over the past two weeks.
They were definitely not his normal read, and he couldn’t say that he’d ever choose to read them if he hadn’t met Kari, but he was impressed with her talent and storytelling ability.
She really made the characters come to life.
More importantly, he’d learned a thing or two about how a hero should act in Kari Love’s world. He was praying he could get it right.
The living room was deserted, but various voices were competing in the kitchen and dining area, and the house smelled like Mama’s roast beef and homemade rolls. Gavin’s stomach growled.
Kari smiled at him. “It smells good.”
He sidled in closer, squeezed her hand, and said, “Not nearly as good as you.”
A becoming blush stole over her cheeks, and Gavin mentally patted himself on the back. He was doing pretty good.
Nick strode ahead of them into the kitchen, announcing as they cleared the doorway, “The mighty oak has fallen, and I give to you the beautiful woman responsible: Kari Love.” He made a grandiose gesture toward Kari and Gavin.
Gavin froze like a deer in the headlights.
He clung to Kari’s hand for support. His brother was such an idiot.
Gavin and Kari weren’t even officially dating.
He liked her and wanted to progress the relationship, but they lived in different states and no matter how much he wanted to be the man for her, he had too many responsibilities to go chasing after her like one of her romance heroes would.
Kari … laughed. She waved her free hand, looking so beautiful and confident that he wanted to fall down to his knees and proclaim his devotion.
Of course, Gavin would never do something like that, and it worried him that he had such desperate thoughts.
He could probably blame all the romance novels he’d been shoving down his own throat, but as Kari gave him a conspiratorial gaze and squeezed his hand, he realized Nick was right: he had fallen.
He didn’t particularly care what his family said; if he could simply stay close to her.
There had to be a way to make this work.
“Hey, everybody,” Kari greeted them, not disputing or referencing Nick’s words.
Ella, Cassie, and Hazel rushed forward first, giving her impulsive hugs and welcoming her as if it was their duty as women to make sure she felt accepted.
Mama was next, then Trey, Stetson, Heath, and Jed.
Papa wheeled over as Jed finished introducing himself, and Kari bent down to hug him.
Papa winked at Gavin. The entire time Kari got acquainted with everyone, Austin was bouncing around telling whoever would listen about how he’d met her first, how he knew she was the right one for Gavin, and how he’d watched them kiss earlier today.
Gavin’s neck got hotter the more Austin prattled on, but he didn’t want to reprimand him and reveal how embarrassed he was about Austin not only revealing that they’d kissed but also that he thought they were “meant for each other.” Yikes.
Gavin thought it might be true, and that scared him almost as much as losing her.
He had to just take this one day at a time.
Maybe then he wouldn’t come unglued and mess this up—or worse, run from the most impressive woman he’d ever met.