CHAPTER 5

SCARLETT FOSTER

The light tap from the driver on the front window snapped the intense spell hanging between us.

Caleb slowly pulled his hand back, though his burning gaze lingered on my face for a heartbeat longer before he turned toward the door. The driver slid into the front seat, quietly offering a brief apology before turning the key in the ignition.

The engine hummed to life, and the Maybach pulled away from the rain-swept harbor overlook, gliding smoothly onto the freshly cleared highway.

Neither of us spoke a word for the rest of the drive. The weight of his confession hung heavily in the air, thick and suffocating. My head was spinning. Five years of bitterness, grief, and self-doubt had built a solid wall around my heart, and Caleb had just completely dismantled it with a single truth.

I leaned back against the leather headrest, staring out at the blurred streetlights. Every instinct I had urged me to protect myself, to keep that wall up at all costs. But how could I treat him like a villain when he had sacrificed his own happiness to keep me safe from harm?

When the car finally pulled up to the curb outside my apartment building, the rain had settled into a soft, steady drizzle.

I reached for the door handle, eager to escape the heavy tension inside the cabin. "Thank you for the ride, Mr. Montgomery."

Before I could push the door open, Caleb grabbed my wrist. His grip was firm yet surprisingly gentle, his thumb resting right against my racing pulse.

"Scarlett, wait," he said softly.

I froze, turning my head to look at him. "It's late, Caleb. I need to get some sleep. We have early meetings tomorrow."

Instead of letting go, Caleb unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted closer across the leather seat. The sheer power of his presence flooded my senses. The subtle scent of sandalwood, the warmth radiating from his body, the intensity in those storm-gray eyes—it threatened to pull me completely under.

"You're running again," he said, his voice dropping to a low, velvet hum that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"I'm not running. I'm being realistic," I countered, though my voice sounded far less confident than I wanted. "Hearing the truth doesn't magically erase five years of pain, Caleb. It doesn't undo the nights I cried myself to sleep thinking I was disposable to you."

"I know," he murmured, his thumb lightly caressing the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist. "I know I hurt you. I know I left scars that haven't healed yet. And I will spend every single day of the rest of my life making up for it if you give me the chance."

My heart pounded so hard against my ribs I was sure he could feel it through my sleeve. "Caleb, please... don't do this."

"Don't do what?" he asked, leaning in closer. His gaze dropped down to my lips before rising back to meet my eyes with raw, unfiltered hunger. "Don't touch you? Don't look at you like you're the only person in this room?"

He lifted his free hand, his fingers gently tracing the line of my jaw, tilting my face slightly upward. The proximity was intoxicating. My breath hitched in my throat as his face slid agonizingly close to mine. I could feel the warm brush of his breath against my skin.

For a terrifying, exhilarating second, I thought he was going to kiss me. My body instinctively leaned into his touch, every cell in me remembering how perfectly we used to fit together. The old, dormant love I had fought so hard to bury surged back to the surface with frightening speed.

Caleb paused, his lips resting a fraction of an inch from mine. He hovered there, giving me space, testing my limits, letting the heat between us build until the silence practically crackled.

I closed my eyes, trembling under the sheer weight of his presence. I was torn completely in half—part of me wanted to pull him close and drown in the familiarity of his arms, while the other part screamed at me to step back before I got completely destroyed all over again.

Caleb brushed his lips lightly against the corner of my mouth—a soft, agonizingly brief whisper of a touch that made my knees weak.

Then, he leaned into my ear, his deep voice carrying a sharp, unwavering promise that shattered the last bit of my composure.

"I let you walk away once, Scarlett," he whispered, his grip tightening just enough to pull me a fraction closer. "I won't make that mistake twice."

He pulled back slowly, releasing my jaw and freeing my wrist, though his gray eyes stayed locked onto mine, burning with absolute conviction.

Without saying another word, I pushed the car door open, stepped out into the cool night air, and hurried into the lobby of my building without looking back.