With trembling fingers she knocked on the door of the small, ranch-style house, counting the seconds in her head as she waited for it to open. Agonizing moments passed before she heard a voice, Caleb’s voice, telling her to come in. She took a deep breath and turned the knob, her palms moist and clammy as she slowly pushed open the door. There was no longer a wooden barrier standing between them; it took every ounce of will she possessed not to give in to the urge to run away from this moment, this long overdue encounter.
The moment she locked eyes on Caleb, she knew there would be no running away. Her feet were firmly planted on the floor. Every fiber of her being was urging her to stay. Face the music. The words buzzed in her ears as Caleb came into view. It felt like all the air had suddenly left her lungs.
Caleb. He was taller and bigger than she remembered him; he’d grown a few inches and filled out his lean physique into one of pure muscle and raw strength. Some things hadn’t changed though. He still had the perfectly chiseled cheekbones and the light tiger’s eyes that made her melt whenever she gazed into their depths. Lord, he was still beautiful. At eighteen he had been the most handsome boy she had ever seen in her life, and at twenty-seven, he was simply gorgeous. All man, she thought as a giddy feeling coursed through her body.
“Sierra.” Caleb uttered her name through gritted teeth, his face reflecting a range of emotions from disbelief and shock to barely contained rage as he sized her up from across the room. From where she stood in the entrance-way she could see the muscles tensing on the side of his face and the fists he held tightly clenched at his sides. His demeanor left no doubt as to his state of mind. And who could blame him? Sierra thought.
Although she had mentally prepared herself for this meeting, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Caleb Matthews. She couldn’t stop herself from staring at him and marveling at the changes time had brought about. Time had been generous to Caleb.
They locked gazes. Sierra met the dark, probing gaze of the only man in creation who she’d ever been head over heels in love with. Silently, she said a small prayer that Caleb wouldn’t pick up on her tangled emotions. After eight years of separation it amazed her that the sight of him could create such a rush of feeling within her, a feeling she hadn’t experienced since she was Caleb's girl.
Belle Calhoune Books:
Seven Brides, Seven Brothers Series (Pelican Bay):
Book One: Breathless
Book Two: Adored
Book Three: All This Love
Seven Brides, Seven Brothers Series:
Book One: The Way Home
Book Two: Still the One
Book Three: Until You Loved Me
Book Four: Love Me Tender
Book Five: If only in my dreams
Book Six: Baby It’s You
Book Seven: When A Man Loves A Woman
PREQUEL: WHEN YOU BELIEVE
Secrets of Savannah Series:
Book One: Till the End of Time
Book Two: A Moment in the Moonlight
Three Matchmakers And A Christmas Wedding (Hope Valley Book 2) Page 7
