Chapter 30
“You left before I could say it back,” a deep voice said.
Leah jerked her head around to find Cole standing only a few feet away. Like a mirage, vague, dimly seen at first, she blinked her eyes. Perhaps she ate too many of her mother’s cookies at the festival. Yet, her skin tingled in his presence. A fluttery feeling in her belly increased.
She gazed into his eyes. With his expression beaming, her heart flooded with joy. Cole’s eye contact with her remained strong. With little blinking, he drew closer. Heat pooled inside her, and she unconsciously parted her lips. Then she fiddled with her hands in her lap.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you left before I had the chance to say it back.”
“Say what?”
He inched closer and kneeled before her. Reaching for her hands, he clasped them with his. He then ran his fingers over her smooth skin. “That I’m in love with you too.”
Leah’s thoughts ran leaping through the green ways of her mind, like fawns at play. Nothing compared to his smoldering eyes as they glanced at her now. A hyper-awareness of her body intensified. Love sang with wings as a bird and radiated from her chest.
“You never told me.” Her eyes fixed on his.
Then he stood to sit beside her. “I should have. I’m sorry. I let too much time pass, worried if people would love me for me.” Then he ran one hand down the slope of her cheek. “I had that with you all along.”
“Don’t be. I’ve spent most of my life afraid too. I don’t want to do that anymore.” She closed her eyes despite shivering at his touch. How did everything change so fast? She then sensed his presence closer to her, his lips caressing her temple. Her heart responded, thumping hard and steady inside her chest.
“I think I really knew that night of prom.”
Leah’s eyebrows etched together. She pulled her body back slightly to see his face. “Prom?”
He clutched her hand. “You insisted we go as friends, but I wanted you as my date.”
“I wish you would have told me.”
He tilted his head at her. “Would you have believed me?”
She set her eyes on him. “No. I wouldn’t have been ready. I don’t know if I am fully ready right now.”
“I understand.” His face fell, but he gave a half smile. “All that matters to me is you being happy.”
She cradled his face in her hands. “Cole, what I mean is… there’s no such thing as the perfect time. All we have is now. I want to try… with you. You make me want to be brave.” A weight lifted from her chest.
Cole’s arms bracketed her waist. He pressed his forehead against hers. “Tell me again, Leah Morris.”
“I love you, Cole Par”—
He cut her off with a scintillating kiss. Passion ignited between them, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Cole’s hands splayed over her back. Angling her body closer to him, she basked in the moment. With the gurgling of water, the wind sweeping, and the moonlight shining on them, nothing made the moment as perfect. Cole caressed her mouth with his one last time before pulling away.
He cradled her face in her hands. “I love you, Leah.”
She squealed and hugged his neck tight. “I love you too.
Then he kissed her again. He was the only man in the world for her. How did they change from friends in high school? From helping each other out in study hall, to where now she didn’t see the rest of her life without him. Next thing she knew, he sprung her to her feet.
“What are you doing?” She grinned.
He led her into a waltz. “I want a do-over.”
She spun around him. “A do-over?”
Then he dipped her from one side to the next. “I felt cheated at the wedding coming that close to kissing you.”
Leah’s smile only got bigger. “I ran away though.”
“So, a do-over is our best option.” His hands pressed into her back.
She stood on her tiptoes, angling her mouth toward him. “This work for you?”
A low pleasant hum escaped his mouth as he covered her lips with his. Her arms coiled around him as he peppered her mouth with soft kisses. When he picked her up off her feet and swung her in the air, she smiled against his lips.
****
Cole and Leah returned to the festival walking hand in hand inside the barn. Her eyes roamed the room, and she spotted Craig dancing with Joanna. A corner of her mouth quirked up, as soon as Cole laced his fingers with hers.
“Is that Tyler?” he asked.
Leah twirled her head and caught sight of Tyler Gage with Amber, her assistant. “I guess so.”
“It seems as if everyone is paired tonight.” Leah grinned as soon as Seth and Celeste came into view. Seth leaned in closer to Celeste as if to whisper in her ear. She giggled, while eating a cupcake.
“I’m happy for them,” Leah told Cole.
“Me too. She practically shocked Seth at PV’s.”
Leah raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“She came over and told Seth she liked him. He didn’t know what to say.”
“It’s rare to catch him off guard like that.”
“I know, but I’m glad he’s met someone.”
“It worried you?” Leah coiled her arms around him.
“A little, but I’m better now.” He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on her lips.
“Me too.”