Forcing her jaw to relax, she let her lips soften feeling Gavin’s lips begin to move. At first, she thought he was pulling away, so she awkwardly started to turn her face, but Gavin resumed before she could. He’d tucked her in so close that her head was in the crook of his neck, so she was unable to turn away from his kiss.
Gavin’s kiss was little more than the chaste one she had given him on the cheek in the hotel room. The only difference was their lips were pressed together. It wasn’t the passionate, drawn-out ones that she saw on television or in public, when couples didn’t care who was watching. There wasn’t anything remotely passionate about what Gavin was doing. In fact, it felt as if he was forcing himself.
Ginny pressed her fingertips against the side of his chin. “Stop, Gavin.”
Gavin lifted his lips from hers.
“You might be trying to prove something to yourself, but you’re ruining my first kiss.”
The sob escaping her lips was smothered under his again. While it wasn’t passionate, she no longer felt as if Gavin was forcing himself into kissing her.
His lips were firm, but this time it was different. Wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips became malleable to the contours of his, the sensual glide of his tongue across her bottom lip had her quivering in his arms. Hesitantly, Ginny allowed access to her mouth. The stroke of his tongue against hers had her shying away, but Gavin’s followed until they were in an intimate dance as they dueled and stroked to heighten the other’s pleasure.
Unsure if she was doing it right, and mainly worried she would put Gavin off from ever touching a woman again, she took her cues from him. Fleeting strokes of her tongue, beckoning and promising, before fleeing, allowing him the opportunity of pursuing or retreating.
Gavin was a military man to the bone. Following her, he captured her mouth, taking her prisoner in a heady rush that she didn’t want to ever end.
“Excuse me. I need to get by so I can go to bed.”
Ginny found herself unceremoniously dropped to her feet at Silas’s request.
“My mirror broke,” Ginny embarrassedly explained. “Gavin was carrying me so my feet wouldn’t get cut.”
Silas stuck his head out of his room. “The broom and dustpan are in the utility closet. You need my help cleaning up?”
“No, we got this,” Gavin said, making no move to get the items.
“Then good night. Make sure you don’t silence your phones. There are tornado warnings out. If the alert goes off, get to the basement immediately.”
“Should the boys come here?”
“Isaac is staying up; don’t worry. I stayed up until the winds slowed down. The storm looks like it’s going in another direction.”
“How can you tell? That thunder felt close.”
“The radar on the news showed it moving off. Isaac will call if it starts to build back up.”
“Good, that’s a relief,” Ginny told him. “Gavin, if you get my house shoes, I’ll get the broom. Night, Silas.”
“Good night.”
Ginny went down the steps, dreading going back up them, worried about Gavin’s reaction to the kiss they had shared. Any time she drew too close to Gavin, he reacted in one of two ways; he would either hide his head in his shell or come out snapping.
Taking a trash bag, along with broom and pan, she returned back upstairs to see Gavin waiting with her tennis shoes.
“You’re house shoes are too flimsy to wear with that much glass. I’ve already taken off your blanket and sheet and bundled them together. You can put them in the laundry room and get a clean set while I sweep and cleaned it up for you.”
Taking the bedding, Ginny felt as if she was being dismissed. Trying not to let it bother her, she went back downstairs. Loading the washing machine, she came to the conclusion she had to give Gavin his space.
“Small steps,” she muttered, searching for another sheet set. Finding what she needed, she went back upstairs to see Gavin tying the trash bag.
“Where does he keep his vacuum cleaner? I want to make sure I got it all.”
“In the utility room,” Ginny answered.
“I’ll get it. You can make your bed.”
Muttering to herself when he was out of earshot, she smoothed the sheet out on her bed. It took longer than she was expecting, and when he didn’t immediately come back, she was about to go looking for him when he finally returned.
“Sorry, I was watching the weather forecast. The storms are dying out.”
Tossing her pillow back on her bed, she turned to look at Gavin, placing her hands on her hips. “If you’re going to tell me our kiss made you sick—”
“Ginny, a tornado hit Nashville.”
Ginny immediately sat down, reaching for her cell phone on the nightstand, then pulling up her contact list. She simply stared at it blindly. “I don’t know who to call first.”
Gavin sat down on the bed next to her. “The band has already left Nashville, and I’ll call Nickel. Who else?”
“Marty, Kimmy, Pizza….”
“Start with Marty.”
She didn’t keep him on the phone long, just making sure he was okay. Then she called Kimmy.
“Were you in the storm?”
“No. I wish had been!”
“Don’t say that!”
“It’s true. Lawrence talked me into staying in Nashville with him. I had a big argument with Nick when I didn’t go back to Queen City with him and the band. I’ve been so stupid, Ginny.”
“What did he do?”
“I went to the store alone, because he said there was no need for both of us to go and because he said he wasn’t feeling well. When I came back, he was in bed with Jacey. Do you remember her?”
“Vaguely. She’s one of the waitresses in the nightclub.”
“When I threw a fit about finding them in bed, Lawrence told me he never made any promises, that I was exaggerating their relationship, and he was just giving me a place until I could get on my feet. Jacey is now moving in with him, and I have nowhere to go.”
“Nick will let you stay with him.”
“I don’t have enough money to get to Queen City. I spent the last of my money paying Lawrence’s bills and those damn groceries.”
“Kimmy ….”
“I know …,” she wailed. “I don’t need you telling me I told you so like Nick.”
“I wasn’t. Do you have my car?”
“Yes, but I don’t even have enough money to buy gas.”
“I’ll PayPal you enough to get home. Just don’t tell Lawrence I’m sending you the money. Just go.”
“I can’t ask—”
“You’re not asking; I’m giving. You can pay me back when you’re back on your feet.”
“Thank you, Ginny. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t called.”
“You have my number. You don’t have to wait for me to call if you ever need anything. Let me know when you get on the road so I won’t be worried.” Disconnecting the call, she realized Gavin had been listening.
“Kimmy’s boyfriend break up with her?”
“Yes.”
Gavin narrowed his eyes on her. “You knew it was going to happen. That’s why you left her your car.”