Page 65 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

Her excitement faded abruptly as her eyes caught his bare chest. He swept a hand across it, resting the heel of his hand between his pectorals.

“You’re so hot…” she murmured. She couldn’t seem to lower her gaze, and he dropped his arm, letting her have a show. “I was waiting for your light to come on so I could tell you. I, um, I’m sorry…I…”

“Want me to put on a shirt?”

“Uh....”

He edged closer. “Or we could kiss.”

Her eyes flew to his. He slid his hands down the arms of her long-sleeved shirt, then clasped her hands.

She smiled, leaned closer and accepted his offer, kissing him. She tasted the way she smelled, like chai. She was his new favorite smell and taste.

“When do you start school?”

“I—well, classes start in two weeks.”

“Online or in person? Did you get a scholarship?”

She sucked in a deep breath and Louis could see the wave of panic hit her. She was in uncharted waters now.

“Hey, don’t worry. It’ll all fall into place.”

“I don’t even have a good laptop,” she whispered.

“You can borrow mine. And that offer to take you to classes still stands.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re worrying.”

“I still don’t know if Calvin is moving us all to France.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I mean, the cost of back and forth for the boys will break me.”

“You want to stay in Sweetheart Creek?”

She was chewing her lip and didn’t answer.

“Well, you could take online classes for now. Figure the rest out later?”

“What if we move and don’t come back? What if he wants to stay there forever?”

“Hey, hey.” Louis pulled her back into his arms. “This is your life, too, remember?”

“I don’t want to go to France.” She met his eyes with a desperation he wanted to erase for her. “I want to stay here. I want my adventures to be here.”

Her eyes, if he wasn’t delusional, were saying that she wanted to have those adventures here withhim.

“Then make it happen, and let me know how I can help. I’d move mountains for you, Hannah Noelle.”

* * *

Hannah really wished that whoever it was knocking on Louis’s door would stop. She was having a lovely time kissing him, especially since he didn’t seem to mind the way her hands kept exploring his bare torso.

She allowed him to extract himself from her embrace in order to answer the door. Her brows popped up when she saw it was MayBeth, the local real estate agent. Why was she here? Did Louis want to sell? Was Hannah’s former Christmas wish coming true? Because at the moment she didn’t really want him moving anywhere but back into her arms.

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