“So?” he asked.
Leah clasped her hands on top of the comforter and released a deep breath.
“Look, Caleb, despite what you said in front of Abigail and Joel tonight, you really don’t have to do this. I invited you here to enjoy the outdoors. Go fishing, or hiking, or whatever it is that you’d planned to do with your friends.”
He came over to stand next to her bed. Leah had to pull in several breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart.
“Forget what I’d planned to do with my friends,” he said.
“But—”
“I’ll have time to fish and hike and do all that other stuff this weekend. And if I don’t, so what?” He shrugged. “You hadyourheart set on participating in some of the activities this weekend. You should still be able to do them. I want to help. Let me.”
Leah stared up at him in sheer amazement. Could he really be this sweet?
Everything she knew about him indicated that he was. After all, this was the same man who routinely helped their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Miles, cart her groceries inside, and who changed the oil in Mr. Henderson’s decades old pickup truck every three months. Caleb’s heart seemed to be genuine. Why not allow him to “help” her get through the weekend?
“So, no complaints when Geoff asks you to do a trust fall?” Leah asked.
His eyes narrowed. “Maybe I should read over some of those activities first.”
She burst out laughing. “No trust falls. I promise.”
His grin revealed the faintest crow’s-feet at the corners of his eyes. How could they possibly look as sexy on him as they did? It was totally unfair.
“Well, I guess we should get some sleep,” Caleb said after several moments passed. “It’s been a long day with the drive up from Jersey.”
“It has been,” Leah agreed. “I can’t believe it was just this morning that I overheard you and your friend arguing.”
His brow crinkled with his frown. “Wait? You heard that.”
Her cheeks instantly heated.
Busted.
“I told you I was nosy,” Leah said. “I hid behind my open trunk for a while. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
“I’ll have to watch what I say around you.” Amusement danced in his brown eyes as he continued to linger at the foot of her bed.
Leah’s gaze was drawn to his mouth. She couldn’t look away if she tried. The air crackled with the electricity racing between them.
“Well, goodnight,” Caleb said.
“Goodnight,” Leah returned.
She slipped underneath the covers and listened as he made his way over to the sofa. There was rustling, then the lamp switched off, plunging the room into darkness.
Did she really think it would be better once the lights were out? Ha ha. Silly her.
The intimacy created by the pitch-black room was so apparent her body practically sizzled with it. She was afraid to even take a breath. Any movement—any sound—seemed as if it would throw off the delicate balance in the room.
Several minutes passed before Caleb’s quiet voice pierced the darkness.
“Leah?” he intoned in a hushed voice.
“Yes?” she asked, not even pretending to be asleep.
“Why haven’t you done any of the adventurous things we talked about for our fake dates?”
