Page 110 of Hidden Chance

“I had God there to protect me.”

“I know. And because I’m a Christian now, I shouldfind comfort in that. It’s mind-blowing for me. A few weeks ago, I would have found it an incredible feat of human ability. Or just plain lucky. But now that I can see the truth, this faith stuff is wild.”

“It is. I can’t say it happens all the time, but when it does, it’s hard to get your head around.”

“It’s impossible to get your head around. But is it weird that I’m a little jealous?”

“Of what?”

“God.”

She laughed. “Why?”

He pulled her closer. “Because I want to be the one who’s responsible for you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her face. “I know things have been intense since we met, but I’ve grown attached to you.”

Hannah bit her lip. “You don’t think it’s because of what we’ve been through?”

“Are you worried it is?”

“I don’t know what to think. And honestly, I’m too exhausted to work it out right now.”

He took a step back. “If you don’t feel comfortable, I’ll leave it.”

“Oh. Uh.” She scrunched up her face in embarrassment. “I mean.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. It was too soon. It’s the relief of having you safe that makes it hard to ignore how I feel, but now I’ve made you uncomfortable. Forget it. I’ll give you some space. We can talk about it another time.”

She reached for him when he took another stepback. “No. Don’t. I don’t—” She looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the words that would fit around her lack of confidence. “I wasn’t prepared for you to be so honest with me before I’d figured out what I was going to do about you.”

He smiled uncomfortably. “I’m not sure quite how to take that.”

“It means I feel the same, but I don’t want to get this wrong.”

“Oh. Good. Well, we can take things slow.”

She nodded. “But we don’t have to take them too slow.”

The smile he gave her made her squirm against the lightheadedness she felt. It shouldn’t feel so good to see how happy she made him.

He took her hands. “Not too fast. Not too slow. Got it. Would it be inappropriate for me to kiss you right now?”

Her skin prickled in anticipation. “I don’t think you’re supposed to announce it.”

He inched closer. “So I shouldn’t?”

She looked at his lips, painfully close. “I didn’t say that,” she whispered.

“Good.” He closed the gap and walked her into the room as they kissed, his hand moving to her back to pull her closer.

Hannah let the kiss sweep her away in an explosion of emotion. The chaos of the past few weeks increased the intensity to the point where she found it hard to breathe and had to pull away.

“Sorry,” Robby said, still holding her. “That was toofast.”

“No. It wasn’t. It really wasn’t.” She pushed him back and let out a deep breath.

“I got carried away.”

“No.” She laughed. “The problem is it’s not enough, but I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about that right now. I can’t even think straight. I lost myself. It was amazing, and overwhelming, and not enough.”

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