He blinked a few times. “I feel the same way. But I trust Dev with my life, and should something come up and the two of you remain together, so can you.”
She nodded but took his hands. “Nothing has changed in our lives, so what are we going to do about these feelings?”
“Pray about it for now, I guess, and when all of this is over and your name is cleared, we’ll figure it out.”
“You sound certain that my name will be cleared.”
“I’m confident but would be lying to you if I said I felt certain.”
“I’ll take confident for now and hold on to that hope.” She smiled up at him. “And it seems like I’ll have some time on my hands until I see you again, so I’ll devote myself to praying.”
He took a breath. “We need to embrace your saying. We’re in the right place for right now. Trust that God will bring us both through this and if we’re supposed to be together, He’ll arrange that too.”
Trust. But…“That sounds so simple. Easy. But it’s not. Not in my circumstances when I could go to prison. When a man could kill me.”
“I know it’s easier for me, but it’s not easy for me to leave you behind. To let go and let God protect any woman in my world. But maybe if I master it here—trust Him to meet me in every step I take, one step at a time—then I can relax about that deep need to protect people. Especially my sister.”
“And if you can do that, you’ll be open to a relationship?” She heard the hope lingering in her tone. Felt it in her heart. Just a shadow of hope, but it was there.
“That’s what I would like to happen.” He released her hands and cupped the side of her face. “Because, honey, a future with you would be worth mastering this issue once and for all.”
“Oh, me too, and I’ll try harder.” Reveling in the fact he’d called her honey and all that it implied, she snaked her arms up around his neck. “For now, how about we master kissing before you leave.”
“Colin might think your timing is incredibly bad and we should get going, but I doubt it will ever be a bad time to kiss you.” His head swooped down, and his lips met hers.
The shock of his touch—her emotions—far exceeding her expectations raced through her body. He slid his arms around her back and tugged her gently closer, but then his arms gripped her with a fierce need she relished. He deepened the kiss. Seeking. Exploring.
Oh, wow. Just wow.Her senses were on fire. Her heart racing. She met him kiss for kiss. Never wanted him to let her go.
She vaguely heard a door open.
“Yeah, just like I thought,” Devan said. “A whole lot of mushy going on in here.”
He and Colin laughed.
At their laughter she pushed back and smoothed her hands over her top that had risen up when she’d raised her arms around Micha’s neck. His forlorn look at the interrupted kiss mimicked her internal feelings.
“I’ll just pack my things, and we can go.” He stepped from the room, socking each of his teammates on the shoulder as he passed them.
Colin carried his backpack to the door, and Devan came to sit in an armchair, resting his elbows on the knees of his khaki cargo pants and leaning forward.
“You’ll want to pack too, but not until the guys have left.” He leaned back and scratched his close-cut beard, the only real thing that distinguished him from his brother as they looked very similar in their coloring and facial shape, with wide jaws and nut-brown eyes.
“To keep them from knowing I’m leaving,” she clarified.
“Exactly.”
“But wearegoing, right?”
“We are indeed.”
“Where?”
“Coming back into the room,” Colin called out.
Ava clammed up and sat back to wait for Micha’s return, too. Seeing him with his duffle slung over his shoulder seemed so final in their separation. Panic settled in.
No. Stop.Trust God. He’s got this.
