Hannah looked up and opened her mouth as if to object, then closed it again. Her gaze drifted to his lips, lingering there with an unmistakable longing that made his pulse quicken.
For a second time, she seemed about to speak... and for a second time, she stopped herself.
“Okay,” she whispered finally, the word barely audible even in the quiet kitchen.
She hesitated, her eyes meeting his once more. The connection between them pulled taut, and Caleb could barely draw breath. Then she nodded slowly, as if coming to some private decision, and turned toward the stairs.
Caleb watched her go, his hands clenched at his sides to keep from reaching for her. Every step she took away from him felt like a stab to the heart, a stretching of something vital that connected them.
His bear paced anxiously, whimpering with the effort it took not to follow her.
She’ll come back,his bear insisted, the certainty almost painful in its intensity.She has to come back.
Caleb remained frozen, hardly daring to breathe as Hannah reached the bottom of the stairs.
But she didn’t take another step. For one heart-stopping moment, she stood motionless, her back to him, her hand resting on the handrail.
Then she turned.
His hands hovered at his sides, afraid to move first.
Time seemed to suspend as their eyes met across the distance.
Something had changed in her expression, a certainty that hadn’t been there before. She took one step toward him, then another, her movements deliberate yet unhurried.
Caleb’s heart hammered against his ribs as she approached. His bear grew still, watchful, hardly daring to hope.
Hannah stopped before him, close enough that he could feel the warmth of her, could see the slight tremor in her hands as she lifted them to his face. Her touch was tentative at first, fingertips brushing his jaw with a gentleness that made his breath catch.
“I didn’t say goodnight,” she murmured, her voice low and intimate in the quiet kitchen.
Then she rose on her toes and pressed her lips to his for the second time that night.
The kiss was different from the first—slower, deeper, more deliberate. There was no hesitation now. No uncertainty. This kiss held intention, promise, the beginning of something neither of them had named, but both could feel taking shape between them.
Caleb’s hands found her waist, drawing her closer as he returned the kiss with equal fervor. The world narrowed to this single point of connection—her lips on his, her hands cradling his face, the soft sound she made when he pulled her against him.
When they finally broke apart, both breathless, he didn’t let go as she rested her forehead against his chest.
Because this was where he was meant to be. With Hannah in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-One – Hannah
She could pull away now. Turn from Caleb and go to bed. Alone.
But that wasn’t what Hannah wanted, and she needed to make that clear to Caleb. She needed him to know that this was what she wanted. That he didn’t need to give her space. Or her freedom.
He’d already done that. She understood why.
Last night, he hadn’t rejected her when he kissed her forehead, even when she wanted more. No, it wasn’t rejection; it was respect. Respect for her feelings, for the raw emotions that had surfaced when they were at the vineyard.
He’d been afraid she’d been swept up in the moment. Maybe she had.
The space she’d put between them, the barriers she’d built, had given her time to reflect. Time to process. Time to decide.
She wanted him. Wanted to explore what was growing between them. Even if she didn’t yet know where it might lead.
“Come with me,” she whispered, taking his hand in hers.
