Page 70 of The One Who Never Left: Colter

“Wait.” The word came out low and rough, and it made Sutton pause mid-step. Colter moved before she could register what he meant, rounding the truck with that impossible calm that always made his heart beat faster.

In an instant, he had her pinned, his hands planted firmly on the truck doors on either side of her head, trapping her between his body and the truck door.

Sutton’s breath hitched under his gaze, and he felt a jolt run straight through him.

He waited for her to say something. For her to duck under his arm and walk away. But she stayed—right there pressed up against his body.

She cupped his jaw, running her thumb along his lower lip, and hell if that wasn’t all the green light he needed.

He leaned in, eyes dark and focused, and kissed her—slow at first, a careful brush of his mouth meant to ask permission before taking more. Her response was immediate and unmistakable—she rose to meet him, kissing him back with a soft certainty that said yes without a single word.

His mouth moved against hers with deliberate restraint, giving her time to pull away if she wanted, to decide if this was a line she wanted to cross. He held himself there, steady and patient, letting the moment breathe.

Her response was a quiet yes.

She shifted closer, fingers curling into the front of his shirt as if anchoring herself, lips softening beneath his. That was all it took.

The kiss deepened, still unhurried but surer now, his hand sliding to her jaw to hold her there as his mouth claimed more ground. The world narrowed to warmth and closeness, to the simple certainty of her choosing him back, and the kiss followed that truth—gentle giving way to something fuller, richer, and impossible to misunderstand.

Then something snapped, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and angled his head so she could take it to the next level.

And, fucking hell, the next level nearly leveled him.

Firm lips. Hungry mouth. A connection fueled by enough fire to detonate a power plant.

She tugged at his lip with her teeth, biting until it stung. Then he upped the volume, testing, claiming, making his body melt into her. Every second pulled a growl from deep in his chest he hadn’t meant to release.

Then it was his turn.

He opened up the kiss, tasting her fully—sweet, spicy, everything he knew it would be and more. It was impossible, overwhelming, the kind of kiss that could tempt even the most disciplined man.

And fuck if he wasn’t tempted.

But he forced himself to pull back just slightly, tilting his forehead against hers. Heat roared through him, but he clenched his jaw.

“I’m going to be careful with you, Sutton. Come hell or high water, I swear it.”

The moment the words left his mouth, regret followed hard on their heels. Not because he didn’t mean them—he did—but because he saw exactly what they did to her.

Sutton went still in his arms, the easy warmth between them snapping taut, like a line pulled too tight.

With a shaky hand, she lifted two fingers to her lips, pressing them there as if she needed to ground herself, then took a step back. Out of his arms and out of the fragile space they had been standing in.

Colter stayed where he was, hands hovering uselessly at his sides, watching her retreat like someone waking from a dream they had not been ready to leave. He understood then, with a dull ache settling low and steady inside him. Careful promises sounded too much like stakes. Like expectations. Like something she was not yet ready to carry.

And God help him, the last thing he wanted was to be another man who made her feel cornered by good intentions.

Her head shook violently. “We shouldn’t do this.”

“Why?” he whispered.

“There are too many whys.”

CHAPTER 25

The next day, Sutton stood in the treatment room at the animal clinic, elbow-deep in charting post-op notes for an elderly golden retriever. The buzz of the centrifuge, the smell of antiseptic, the quiet steadiness of work usually calmed her. Today it did nothing.

Her phone buzzed against the stainless-steel counter. She wiped her hands on a towel and checked the screen.