“Wait, my family helped found Silver Spruce?” Holly shook her head in disbelief. “How did I not know that? Why didn’t my family ever talk about it?”
“I know it seems like I’m a bottomless pit of knowledge and wisdom, but I can’t answer that,” Johnny replied. “Maybe you should call your family later.”
“I will,” Holly nodded, “when I know how I’m going to explain all of this without losing my mind. Go on.”
“Anyway, the founding families had all of these weird traditions. One of which is that the firstborns of founding families can only marry other firstborns of founding families. Your grandmother wants you to stay here for thirty days because she’s hoping you’ll fall in love with a firstborn and carry on the tradition.”
“What?” Holly laughed. “Are you kidding me?”
“That’s the tradition.” Johnny shrugged.
“Do people actually follow it?”
“Surprisingly, yes,” he said. “Though don’t go thinking this town is filled with loveless marriages straight out of the Victorian Era. This town has a crazy-low divorce rate.”
“Interesting. So, Pearl tricked me into coming out here so I’ll marry a firstborn from another family?”
“That’s the bare bones of it,” he replied. He leaned closer to Holly. “For the record, I’m a firstborn.” He winked.
“Ah.” Holly nodded slowly. “So, this is some elaborate proposal scheme, then?”
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “You caught me.”
“Are Garret and Keller firstborns, too? Is that why all three of you are here?”
“We are, but that’s not why we’re here,” Johnny said. “We aren’t the only three firstborns in town. We moved in to help out Pearl.”
“Thanks for that,” Holly said. “Helping her should’ve been my family’s responsibility. Not yours.”
“We’re all family here.” Johnny smiled kindly.
“That statement makes the whole marriage thing ten times creepier.” Holly smirked.
“Very funny.” Johnny chuckled. “Does knowing that help?”
“Sort of,” Holly said. “It still seems weird for Pearl to go to all of this trouble for a weird town-marriage tradition.”
“Pearl was an unusual woman,” Johnny said. “I might be able to help in other ways that don’t involve explaining the town’s strange history.”
“Oh?”
“How about I drive into town in a little while to get an update on your car? It might make you feel better knowing when you’ll be able to leave, even if you decide to stay for the full month.”
His words made sense. In truth, it was feeling trapped that was driving Holly crazy. If she had a way out, she might be able to think about this with a clearer head.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “That way, I’ll have something more concrete to tell my boss.” Having a plan, even one as flimsy as this, made her feel so much better. She stood up and walked around the desk to face Johnny. “Thank you,” she said with a deep sigh. “I really thought I was about to go off the deep end.”
“Any time you feel like it’s too much, you can come to talk to me. Firstborn or not, I only want to help.” His stormy eyes searched her face.
She felt it again, that strange stirring sensation inside her. Her heart felt like it was either beating a million miles a minute or not beating at all. That seemed to happen every time she looked at Johnny.
“It seems like you have a knack for coming to my rescue,” she said.
“I’d say it’s fate, but it’s more likely an elaborate long-term scheme concocted by Pearl,” he joked.
“Let’s call it fate for now. It’s easier for me to wrap my brain around.”
“Fate it is then.” His voice took on a velvety quality that made Holly shiver. His gray-green eyes flickered to her lips. He was so close to her now.
Had she been moving toward him this whole time? She could’ve sworn he hadn’t moved an inch. His gravitational pull sucked her in, and she didn’t care to stop it.
She placed her hand on his chest. Even through multiple layers of clothing, she could feel the solid muscle beneath. There was no point in pretending she hadn’t wondered about him since the moment he had walked up to her car. The attraction was there. Was there really a point in denying it?
Holly decided no, there wasn’t. Johnny lowered his head just enough for Holly to understand what he was silently asking. She tipped her face up, silently answering.
His kiss took the breath from her lungs. The entire world tipped on its axis as she let him pull her closer. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, sinking into his kiss. It didn’t feel like a first kiss. It felt like she’d kissed him hundreds of times before. He felt warm, comfortable, and impossibly familiar.
He placed his hands on her waist, running them up and down her sides before snaking around her lower back and pulling her tight against him. The amount of physical contact was almost too much to bear. Every fiber of her being felt tuned in to his body. She felt bottomless. The more she had, the more she wanted.
Johnny moved her so that her back was against the desk. He lifted her slightly so her ass rested on the edge. Without thinking about it, she opened her legs and pulled him closer so his hips were wedged between her thighs.
She felt giddy and dizzy. The delicious sensation of doing something she knew she shouldn’t be doing, in a place she definitely wasn’t supposed to be doing it in, was addictive.
He took her bottom lip between his teeth and bit down gently at first. Her mouth popped open in surprise and delight. He bit harder. She gripped his shirt, tempted to rip it off his back.
She opened her eyes, which was
