“Caleb.”
“Yes?”
“I came here because you hired me.”
“I stayed because I wanted to.”
His eyes changed.
Clara continued.
“The land does not rewrite eleven weeks.”
He looked at their joined hands.
“No.”
“And the fact that I may own half of it does not erase that you gave me a room when Pine Ridge had no place willing to rent one to me.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
“That still makes me angry.”
“I know.”
“They said the floor wouldn’t hold.”
“It might not have.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Clara smiled.
“There you are.”
“Who?”
“The man pretending this conversation is about floorboards.”
His eyes lifted.
The air shifted again.
Clara did not move her hand.
Neither did he.
“You were staring at my mouth this morning,” she said.
Caleb exhaled.
“We had other problems.”
“Coward.”
“I found out you may own half my ranch.”
“Our ranch.”
He stopped.
Clara had not intended the words to carry so much.
But they did.
Caleb looked at her.
“Our?”
“For now.”
His voice lowered.
“That is not what I meant.”
“I know.”
She did.
He slowly turned his hand beneath hers.
Their fingers intertwined.
“Tell me to stop.”
Clara looked at him.
“No.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
He leaned closer.
She met him halfway.
The kiss was slow.
Careful.
Then not careful.
Clara’s other hand moved into his hair.
Caleb’s hand rested at her waist.
The size of her body had made touch complicated with other men.
Not practically.
Emotionally.
She had always expected hesitation.
Surprise.
Comparison.
Caleb touched her as though her body required no explanation.
That nearly broke her.
She pulled back.
He stopped immediately.
“What?”
Clara looked away.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie.”
She breathed.
“I’m frightened.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Of this.”
He waited.
Clara said:
“People have wanted things from me.”
“Work.”
“Cooking.”
“Money when I had it.”
“Someone to blame when I didn’t.”
She looked at him.
“I’m not used to being wanted without a task attached.”
Caleb’s expression softened.
“I do want something.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“You.”
The simplicity hurt.
Clara laughed weakly.
“That is an unfair answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
She kissed him again.
They stopped before intimacy traveled farther than either was ready for.
Not because desire disappeared.
Because both understood the next morning would already contain enough changes.
Caleb walked her to her door.
She looked up.
“You’re leaving?”