“It’ll be okay,” Caleb murmured. “I’ll stay away to protect you and Krew, but I won’t be far. I’ll be watching over you. Soon we’ll be together.”
“Thank you for caring so much. I am going to fight him. I’ve got a great lawyer, and this time around I won’t feel the guilt of keeping Jeff from his son. He’s made that choice.”
Caleb nodded.
Emily pulled back and framed his face with her hands. “I adore you, Caleb Jewel.”
He grinned. “I’m easy to adore.”
She shook her head and laughed. He bent down close, and she could feel the heat of his breath against her mouth. Her stomach hopped and her legs got weak.
“I worship the ground you walk on, Emily Housley.”
“You’re such a tease.”
“I’m not teasing.” With that, he kissed her.
Emily sighed with joy and happiness as she leaned against him to support her weakened limbs. She slid her hands across his jaw and around his neck. Caleb groaned, whipped her around, and pinned her against the door. Emily whimpered, but this time it was from sheer pleasure. He deepened the kiss, and the nerve endings in her mouth went nuts. She clung to him, kissing, savoring, feeling every joy that was created from being kissed so desperately and thoroughly by the man she not only idolized but also loved.
From the way he kissed her, she knew he didn’t want to let her go any more than she wanted to let him go. She couldn’t dismiss the awful thought that she might never see him again. She tried to shove it away, but it crept back, tainting their beautiful connection, their incredible kisses.
Caleb drew back and gently ran his hands up to her face and along her jaw. “I need to go, or I’ll never be able to walk away from you.”
She stared into his beautiful eyes. “I know all about your self-control. You taught Krew well.”
“Yeah, but mine’s never been tested like this.” He looked over her face, more somber than she’d ever seen him. “I love you.”
“I love you,” she repeated.
He gave her a pure, sweet kiss; then he gently lifted her away from the door, yanked it open, and hurried through it. He looked back once, his eyes tortured. Emily watched until he was swallowed up by the night.
She shut the door, dead-bolted it, slid to the floor, pulled her knees into her chest, and sobbed.