Page 107 of Always Red (Chasing Red 2)

I froze when I saw how pale she was. “Beatrice-Rose? Are you all right?”

She stepped away from me, covering her mouth with her hands as tears continued to stream down her face.

“Beatrice-Rose…”

But she wasn’t listening to me. Her eyes darted toward Red, and what I saw in them chilled me to the bone. But whatever was in her eyes disappeared in a flash, and I wondered if I’d just imagined it.

Beatrice-Rose turned on her heel and rushed through the door toward Red.

For a moment, I had the strongest urge to stop her before she reached Red. But she only went past Red and headed for the stairs.

I sent Ben a grateful look as he nodded at me and went to soothe Beatrice-Rose.

Everything faded as I looked at Red again.

She looked so alluring, so captivating standing there in her red gown. Her dark hair cascaded down her back. Red lips, dark eyes. Just the way I liked it.

Grabbing her hand, I laced our fingers together and pulled her with me.

I walked fast, past the guest rooms and the library to the west wing where my old room was. As soon as I’d closed the door behind me, I held her face in my hands. Leaned my forehead against hers.

“You’re here,” I whispered. “God, I missed you.”

Her smile was warm as she wrapped her arms around my waist. We held on to each other a little longer than usual. A little tighter. “Happy birthday, Caleb.”

“Now it is.”

I kissed her. Slowly, tenderly, savoring her taste. Her lips were soft and tasted like chocolate. Like love. Like everything.

“You look like a dream.”

“I love the all-black suit. And the red tie. Very debonair.” She rested her head on my chest. “We match.”

“Perfect,” I murmured, kissing her hair. “You’re not mad at me?”

She pulled back a little to look at me, one dark eyebrow raised. “Should I be?”

I angled my head to study her face. She didn’t look pissed or even irritated, but her face told me something was wrong. “Was that a trick question?”

“Caleb.” She whispered my name in a way that squeezed my heart. “I trust you.”

“And I love you.” I kissed her again. “Is that my present?”

“Here. They wanted me to leave it downstairs with all the other presents, but I wanted to give it to you in person.” She bit her lip.

“Good. I want to open it now.” I looked inside the huge paper bag and found two boxed presents. “Did you get me two presents?”

“No. The pink box is for your mom.”

How sweet was that?

“She’ll love that. She loves presents.”

I eagerly pulled out my present. I tore off the paper, opened the box, and saw a red beanie inside. I knew instinctively that she made it for me. Something warm wrapped around my heart. “You made this.”

“Yes,” she answered, breathless. I shifted my eyes back to hers and found that she had her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. “Do you like it?”

Did she even have to ask?

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