Free Until Now (Not Yet #2) by Laura Ward

in my hands, holding him to me.
    I opened my mouth, and our tongues met, sliding together, exploring and tasting. I released his shirt and brought my hands up and around his neck. A moan erupted, and it took a few seconds before I realized it came from me. Dean groaned in answer, running his hands down my sides and along my back.
    Neither of us would break the kiss. We moved, Dean pulling on my lower lip, biting gently. I ran my tongue along the edge of his lips, teasing and coaxing them back open. Then our mouths were fused together. The kiss became desperate. We communicated words we had never spoken to the other through that kiss. This was real. This was different. I knew enough from what I was feeling to be scared, but I was still not willing to stop. I held myself back from climbing his body, the ache inside me growing like a wildfire.
    “Grace.” Dean pulled back, resting his forehead against mine as he gasped for air. “You feel that, right? It’s not just me?”
    I laughed softly, kissing the corner of his mouth. “I feel it.”
    He placed his hands on my hips, shifting me so he could look into my eyes. His blue eyes sparkled, and something inside me melted. “Let me get to know you. Let me in.”
    He already was in he just didn’t know it. “Yes. I want to know you too.”
    Dean smiled, and it was like the sun broke through from the night sky. “Okay. Tomorrow can I come by after Finn goes to bed? I figure you need to be around me more before you’re comfortable with me hanging with Finn. Maybe we could start by studying together?”
    He sounded so unlike the Dean I imagined him to be. His voice and his demeanor were gentle. He was taking it slow, which I desperately needed, and he was allowing me to make the decisions that were right for my family.
    I nodded, suddenly shy, which was silly considering I’d just kissed him with more passion than I knew existed inside of me.
    His lips tilted up, and he kissed my lips softly. “Lock up behind me, Red.”
    And he was gone. Out the door and into the night but slowly making his way into my heart.

 
     
    Chapter Nine
     
     
    Dean
     
    I HELD OFF until eight thirty before I knocked on the door. I’d waited all day for this. My body was keyed up, the anticipation of seeing her coursing through me. I had guessed—correctly, it seemed—that she wouldn’t want Finn to see me over at her place right away. She would need to trust me before she let Finn spend more time with me.
    I intended for exactly that to happen. I couldn’t explain what was happening to me. I had never felt an attraction like this. In a strange way I was proud of her. I barely knew her, but I knew enough. She was doing it all. Grace was a mom, a student, she worked a job, and made a home for her family. She was so quiet and small and yet her strength was overpowering.
    Some guys would say being interested in a girl with a kid didn’t make much sense. For me, it wasn’t an issue. Maybe because Grace and Finn were real . Grace wasn’t fake like so many of the girls I “dated.” Grace and Finn were honest and funny, and I found myself wanting to be near them—both of them.
    My family was fucking awesome. Seeing this little family stirred something in me that I didn’t know I wanted. A sense of protectiveness overwhelmed me. I needed to make sure nothing ever hurt her or Finn. Especially me. I would never hurt them.
    Grace opened the door with a smile. “Hey.” She let me in and then locked up behind me. Her hair hung free, falling down her back in waves. I’d never seen it down before, and I had the uncontrollable urge to wrap my hands in it and bring her close to me. She wore IU sweatpants and a long-sleeved white shirt. Brown-framed glasses sat on her nose. Holy. Fuck. I had never, in all of my twenty-one years, thought glasses looked sexy on a girl. But on Grace? My entire body thrummed from the sight of her, and I blew out a breath to try to calm myself down.
    “How was your