Read Online Blue Horizons (A Horizons Novel Book 1) by Kathryn Andrews - Free Book Online

back on his and tears pool in my eyes. I don’t know if these tears are leftover from the adrenaline, the relief that this is passing, or from embarrassment. A breeze passes and feels like it’s pushing me into him. Leaning forward, I lay my forehead on the middle of his chest. He doesn’t move and makes no attempt to touch me, but the steady rhythm of his heart welcomes me.
    “I’m so sorry I said that to you.” His voice is quiet and remorseful. “I was trying to be funny, and I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”
    I don’t say anything back to him. I mean, what would I say? Besides, I certainly do not want to get into a conversation as to why this episode of mine happened in the first place.
    I’m not sure how long we actually stand in the driveway, but eventually I step a little closer to him. His hand comes up and cradles my head, almost like one would a child. His fingers slip into my hair and my eyes close at the sensation. I can’t remember the last time that I was this close to a guy. My heart is still pounding a little harder than normal, but I’m starting to think that it’s for a different reason and not out of fear. The scent of his cologne from earlier has faded, but he smells just like what I think a guy should smell like . . . clean, a combination of fresh laundry, citrus, and a musk scent. It isn’t overpowering and the scent of him combined with the air from the fall night is intoxicating.
    Letting out a deep sigh, I relax against him, and slowly, he reaches down and grabs one of my fingers with one of his.
    “Come on, let’s get you inside.” He takes a step back from me, his eyes scanning my face, and then he pulls my finger and together we walk back up the steps and to the front door.

 
     
    WHAT. THE. HELL. Just. Happened.
    I made a one-off flirtatious remark, and by the way she reacted, you would think I was threatening to tie her up and physically harm her. I mean, shit , that was stressful.
    I’ve never seen someone have a panic attack before. The poor girl could barely breathe, she was shaking all over, and she was frantic to get out of here. No way, sweetheart. I wasn’t letting her go anywhere.
    The first few weeks after my grandfather died, Clay’s mom would find me in the closet hiding and crying, and she used to put my hand on her chest to calm me down. It worked then, and it was the only thing I could think of to reassure her that I was here with her and not going to hurt her. I’ve known her for thirty minutes, but all it took was five for me to understand she doesn’t like to be touched. So this way, her hand was on me, not the other way around. The power was in her hands, not mine.
    Seriously, what the hell happened to this girl? I can’t wrap my head around it. She’s beautiful and has the voice of an angel, but when her eyes locked onto mine, they were so wide with fear, I wanted to wrap my arms around her to protect her and at the same time kill whoever made her this way.
    Shit.
    I need to calm down and remain that way. If I get upset, she might get upset, and I don’t ever want to see that happen to her again.
    As the front door closes behind us, I take a few deep breaths before turning to face her. Giving her another once over, I check to make sure she’s all right. I’m confused and she’s embarrassed, so I’m certainly not going to start firing questions at her, but damn, if I don’t want to.
    She looks down at the ground and another tear slips out. Now that she’s calm, I can’t help myself, I need physical contact with her. Moving a little closer, I wrap my hand around her face and use my thumb to wipe away the tears. Her face is blotchy from crying, big, watery blue eyes stare up at me, and her lips are swollen with emotion. God, she’s gorgeous. My gaze shifts to her mouth—what I wouldn’t give to kiss all of this away, make her forget what happened on the driveway, and replace it with a memory of us that’s worth