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The only way through the situation was forward, and while there had been significant damage, there had been no lives lost. They would get through it, and everything would be okay.
Tipping her head back, Kayleigh met Hudson’s gaze. His expression was gentle, holding an affection that should have had her moving out of his embrace. Away from him. But instead, it drew her in.
Her mind was screaming at her to step back, to put distance between them, but Kayleigh’s heart made her grasp handfuls of his jacket so he couldn’t move away.
When Hudson bent his head down toward hers, Kayleigh hesitated only a moment before going up on her toes. As their lips touched, she shut down the voice in her head and sank into the moment.
Their kiss felt different from any she’d had before, because this man… this man touched her on a level that no man ever had.
He understood so much about her. He let her be strong when she needed to be, but he was there to support her when her strength ebbed.
Her feelings for him blossomed into so much more with the kiss they shared. The emotion she’d been trying not to name up to that point solidified into love. It rushed through her, filling her heart completely.
And from the way he held her and kissed her, Kayleigh’s suspicions that Hudson’s feelings went deeper than just friendship were validated. The connection between them strengthened.
In that moment, Kayleigh knew that Hudson could be more than just a co-worker… if she let him.
He could be her world… if she let him.
He could be her everything… if she let him.
But she couldn’t.
Kayleigh ended the kiss, pulling back just a little. Enough that the cold began to seep into her bones… Seep into the space between them…
She knew she needed to step out of his arms. To break their physical connection.
“I can’t,” she whispered hoarsely, struggling to find the strength to move away… to walk away. “This is…”
“Kayleigh?” Hudson still held her, clearly wanting their closeness. The way her heart wanted it.
“I can’t do this,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Hudson’s frown was barely visible in the dim light from the lampstands that lined the road. “What?”
Kayleigh’s heart ached as she stepped back from him. “I can’t… I can’t be with you.”
Before Hudson could say anything, Kayleigh turned and ran from the man she loved. She needed to escape the hurt she’d just inflicted on Hudson. The hurt she’d just inflicted on herself.
However, there was no escaping it, even as she left Hudson behind.
As Kayleigh reached her car, she heard Hudson call her name. She couldn’t turn and look at him because she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave if she did. And she had to leave, even though she didn’t want to.
She’d much rather runtohim, but she had to do the right thing, even if her heart wasn’t in it.
Kayleigh couldn’t talk to him about her reaction right then. Explaining things to him would take more strength than she had at that moment. And he might be able to talk her out of her attempt to stay true to her faith.
She was feeling just that weak.
Once she had a chance to pull herself together, she’d tell him why a relationship couldn’t work for them.
It would be the hardest thing she’d ever done.
Kayleigh took a gasping breath as tears began to flow, and fearing she’d lose control, she pulled over on the dark road. Leaning forward to rest her head on the steering wheel, she let the tears come.
It felt like she’d just torpedoed her one chance to be with a man who fit so perfectly with her.
That wasn’t how love was supposed to be.
