Page 36 of Forbidden Passions

“It’s my job. When I came back, he was gone. I figured... well, he seemed to like your place, so I was on my way there.”

Something flickered across Gabriel’s face—a softening around the eyes, a slight relaxation of his jaw. “Is that the only reason?” he asked quietly.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Damn him.

The simple question caught me off guard. I didn’t know how to respond, how to process this apparent shift after the way we’d left things.

Max whined from inside the truck, scratching at the window. Gabriel opened the passenger door, and Max bounded out, racing to me with his whole body wagging in excitement.

“Hey, buddy,” I crouched to greet him, grateful for the momentary distraction. “You gave me a heart attack, you know that?”

“He’s resourceful,” Gabriel commented, the corner of his mouth quirking in what might have been the ghost of a smile. “Managed to find his way back up the mountain on his own.”

I scratched Max’s behind his ears, avoiding Gabriel’s gaze. “He’s a good judge of character, remember? You said so yourself.”

The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken words. When I finally looked up, Gabriel was watching me with an intensity that made my breath catch.

“I was coming to find you,” he said abruptly.

I blinked, sure I’d misheard. “What?”

He shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable but pressing on. “Before Max showed up, I was going to come back and... talk to you.”

“About?” I stood, heart hammering against my ribs.

Gabriel took a deep breath, as if steeling himself. “About the fact that I was a damn fool.”

The words hung in the air between us, unexpected and somehow exactly what I needed to hear.

“Go on,” I said, not ready to make this easy for him.

His jaw tightened, but he met my gaze directly. “I pushed you away because I was scared. Not of you, but of...” he gestured vaguely, struggling with the words. “Of feeling something. Of caring. Of what happens when people leave.”

“So you made me leave first,” I finished for him.

He nodded, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “It was easier. Or I thought it was.”

“And now?”

“Now I can’t stop thinking about you,” he admitted, the words clearly costing him. “About your laugh. Your stubbornness. The way you see through every defense I put up.” He took a step closer. “The cabin feels wrong without you in it. Empty in a way it never did before.”

Hope rose inside me, despite my attempt to guard against it. “Gabriel—”

“I’m not good at this,” he interrupted, moving closer still. “At talking. At... feelings. Three years alone on a mountain didn’t exactly sharpen those skills.”

Despite everything, I felt a smile tugging at my lips. “You’re doing okay so far.”

Something in his expression eased, a tension releasing. “I don’t know what happens next, Callie. I don’t know how this works with me up there and you... wherever your work takes you. But I know that pushing you away was the biggest mistake I’ve made in a long time.”

I swallowed hard, my anger from the past two days melting under the sincerity in his gaze. “That’s a start,” I said softly.

He closed the remaining distance between us, standing close enough that I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact.“Tell me it’s not too late,” he said, voice low and rough. “Tell me I haven’t ruined whatever this is between us.”

Instead of answering with words, I rose on tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.

For a heartbeat, he remained still, as if afraid to believe this was happening. Then his arms wrapped around me, pulling me against him as he deepened the kiss with a hunger that matched my own.

His hands spanned my back as he held me like something he’d almost lost. I wound my arms around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair, pouring all the hurt and longing of the past two days into the kiss.

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