Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Patrice Lewis (best large ereader .txt) 📕

dipped his head down a few inches his lips would be on Ella’s. He was tempted to kiss her. He imagined her lips would be soft and inviting. They might just taste like the hot cocoa she’d been drinking. Instead of doing so, he sucked in a deep breath. It was too soon to kiss Ella, despite how badly he wanted to do it. He was still trying to decide if she was hiding something or if he was jumping to conclusions about her.

She was pretty amazing with her compassionate insight into his family’s devastation and trauma. And she was opening up more and more. She didn’t feel like such a stranger anymore. She’d told him about her family dog even though it had clearly been a painful topic. Maybe he just needed to be more patient.

He didn’t know if kissing her would give him clarity, but he was willing to give it a try. Just go for it, he told himself. He inched closer and leaned down toward her.

“Connor!”

The sound of his name being called had him instinctively moving away from Ella. He wanted to protect her privacy as well as his own. He didn’t have a single doubt in his mind about the town gossip that would ensue if he was spotted kissing Ella. The abrupt interruption made him feel as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him. The mood had been ruined.

Much to his surprise, his grandparents were standing a few feet away in the clearing.

“Beg our pardons for the interruption.” Beulah sent a pointed look in her husband’s direction. “I daresay we have bad timing.”

“I’ll say,” Connor mumbled under his breath. Disappointment washed over him now that the moment had slipped through his fingers.

He darted a glance at Ella. Her cheeks were flushed. Instinct told him it had nothing to do with the frosty temperature. The almost kiss hung in the air between them. He was trying to pay attention to the conversation with his grandparents, but his thoughts kept veering to Ella’s kissable pink lips. “We wanted to pass along a message to Ella,” Jennings said sheepishly. “Sorry about the intrusion.”

“No worries,” Connor said, placing his hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but Jennings looked so much more vital these days. He had been a virtual shut-in after the kidnapping of his grandchild. Only recently had he begun to venture out into the world. Connor felt gratified that he had rebounded so well.

“Ella, the young lady who drove you over here tonight had a medical emergency,” Beulah explained. “She was covered in hives.”

“Oh, no,” Ella said, her face crumpling. “What happened?”

“It seems Lissa had an allergic reaction to something she ate,” Jennings explained. “She had to leave so she could get an EpiPen shot at the clinic.”

Ella raised a hand to her throat. “That’s so scary. She brings one in to work with her every day. Is she going to be all right?”

Beulah patted her on the shoulder. “She’s in good hands. One of the town’s most eligible bachelors stepped in and drove her to the clinic after Rachel Lawson looked her over. I’m wondering if God is trying to push those two together.” Beulah’s wide grin threatened to take over her entire face. Connor arched an eyebrow in her direction. Sometimes his grandmother’s matchmaking goals were a bit over-the-top.

“Grandmother, let’s focus on Lissa’s health rather than her social life,” Connor said.

Beulah sent him a surprised look. “I apologize if I sounded insensitive, but I have a very good feeling about those two.”

Jennings reached out and clasped his wife’s hands in his own. “You always do, my dear. You always do.”

Beulah had a habit of matchmaking, but her attempts at bringing couples together had a dismal success rate. Not a single one of her matches had even come close to being a successful couple. And yet she persisted.

“Your heart is in the right place, Beulah,” Ella said. Connor could tell Ella’s comment pleased his grandmother. She was practically beaming from the praise.

“Let me take you home, Ella,” Connor offered. “I think the event is winding down.”

Ella finally glanced over at him. She’d been studiously avoiding his gaze ever since his grandparents had shown up. “Thanks. I’d appreciate it. I’m going to call Lissa later to make sure she’s all right,” Ella added.

“How kind of you,” Beulah said. “Please keep us posted.”

“I will,” Ella said. “She’s a real sweetheart.”

As they walked as a foursome out into the main area of the town green, Connor noted that the crowd had thinned considerably. Although he’d wanted to catch up with his old friend Ace, a general scan of the area indicated he may have already departed.

Connor, along with Ella, said good-night to his grandparents and swiftly made his way over to his truck. He’d parked it on the street right by the Sheriff’s office. Once they were both inside the vehicle, Connor turned on the radio in the hopes of erasing the tension that hung in the air.

Ella hadn’t said two words to him in the last ten minutes. He wondered whether she was simply worried about Lissa or pondering the fact that he’d almost kissed her. If it was the latter, Connor had no way of knowing whether his kiss would have been well received. For all he knew she might not have been receptive to it. Maybe his grandparents had rescued him from embarrassment.

Perhaps not kissing Ella had been for the best, considering his reservations about her. It wouldn’t be wise to go down a romantic road with all these questions about her that continued to crop up. He kept telling himself that he wanted something steady in his personal life. It wouldn’t be wise to go down that road with someone whom he wasn’t sure he could trust.

Secrets had a way of coming out from the shadows into the light. His own life had taught him that valuable lesson, and it wasn’t likely he