Free Destined for Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 2) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster Page A

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    Riley put her finger on Jade’s cheek and drew it toward the feed store. Jade’s jaw dropped open as Rex climbed from his truck. He stretched his arms above his head as soon as his boots hit the pavement. She gasped a breath and ducked behind Riley.
    “Riley! How did you know he’d be here?”
    “I’ve listened to you whine like a starving baby for two days straight. It was either this or buy you a pacifier.” She rolled her eyes. “Live here long enough and you know what time your neighbors go to the bathroom. He picks up something for Hope here every Thursday. Like clockwork.” Riley pulled Jade out from behind her.
    “Hope?”
    “Yeah, geez, where did you grow up? The horse his father bought for his mother when she first got sick. I swear they treat that horse like it’s really their mother.”
    “That’s so sad.” The ache in Jade’s heart wasn’t new. She’d known about Rex’s mother dying when he was just a boy, but now, with her new feelings for him, the ache was deeper.
     “I know. Now focus. Look at that fine specimen of a man.” She leaned on Jade’s shoulder and spoke into her ear. “Strong, wide back, ass made of stone, thick thighs, good for, well, you know.”
    Jade swallowed hard. She knew just how thick his thighs were and how thick the thing between his thighs was, too. She shook her head to clear away the heated memory. “So you brought me here to…ogle him?”
    “Ogling is nice, isn’t it? But no. I figured you could go down there and actually talk to him.”
    Jade shook her head and tried to back up, but Riley was standing behind her like a blockade. “No, not a good idea. The whole town knows about the feud, and it’ll get back to my father somehow. Besides, I don’t know if he’ll even talk to me in public.”
    “That’s not true. You said he talked to you at the volunteer meeting.”
    “Like I said, I’ve got to stop telling you things.” Butterflies swirled in her stomach as she watched Rex walk into the feed store.
    “Go talk to him. I have to go back to work anyway.” Riley bent down and kissed Jade’s cheek. As she hurried away, she held her pinky and thumb out and wiggled them by her face. “Call me!”
    I could retreat, pretend I was never here . I don’t have to do what Riley tells me to do, although she’s always been right in the past. She told me to leave Kane before I ever opened my practice. Jade was contemplating leaving when the feed store door swung open and Rex walked out carrying a feed bag over his shoulder and a brown bag in his arms. He held the door open for a woman and her daughter, and when he glanced up the hill, Jade turned her back, hoping he hadn’t seen her.
    When she turned back around, Rex was heading up the hill toward her. She clutched her stomach as he closed the gap between them, the bag from the store in his arms. Who gave the butterflies speed?
    “Jade.” His face was a blank slate, his eyes just as silent.
    “Hi,” she said, feeling her cheeks flush and privately wincing from the heat.
    With his silence, Jade felt like a bubble had formed around them and nothing else existed. She wanted to reach out and touch him, anywhere, everywhere, just to know he was real. She wondered if he wanted the same thing.
    The silence was deafening. Maybe she misread him. Oh God, how embarrassing . She had to remember that he’d said being together was a mistake, and unless she wanted to drive a wedge the size of Nebraska between her and Rex, she’d better go along with it. Being able to talk to him was better than being forced to ignore each other forever. She reminded herself that it was only one night. One make-out session, one blissful orgasm. Oh God, stop thinking about that . Friends. I can do this. Focus on being friends . Right. Friends who aren’t allowed to really be friends at all.
     
    JADE STOOD ON the hill in her sexy boots with the sun illuminating her from behind like an angel. Rex took it as a sign. He’d been