Henry let that settle in for a long moment, amazed at how wise and strong she truly was. He didn’t want to keep their feelings for each other a secret, but she was making a compromise in order to give him a fair chance, and he needed to respect her wishes. Knowing that she was the kind of woman who would honor her word and that they could all remain friends no matter what made him feel much better. He’d fallen in love with Amala, but he’d also loved the time he’d spent in her home with her family. He’d missed all of them since he’d last been here. In his heart he believed that he and Amala were meant to be together and somehow it would all work out. Either way, the prospect of spending time with her family warmed him—especially when his own home was so bitterly cold.

“Very well,” he said. “I agree to your condition, but I have one question: Are we alone here?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, barely getting the words out before he pressed his lips over hers, wondering how many times he’d imagined this moment since he’d last seen her. The response he felt in her kiss was more soothing to his soul than anything ever had been. “I love you, Amala,” he whispered against her lips and kissed her again.

“I love you too, Henry,” she said with a quiver in her voice. “Oh, how I pray we don’t regret this. How I pray we’re not just bringing more heartache into our lives by even considering this.”

“Don’t think about that now,” he said and took her face into his hands. He’d longed to touch her beautiful, dark skin from the moment he’d laid eyes on her in a crowded ballroom. He threaded his fingers into her black hair while he closed his eyes to savor the way it felt, and pressed his forehead to hers. He wanted to kiss her again, but considering the intensity of his attraction to her, he resisted the temptation and focused on how good it felt to just be with her and to have the hope of sharing his future with her. Knowing, at the very least, that he would be able to spend a great deal more time with her and her family left him inexplicably happy. In contrast to how he’d been feeling the majority of the time since he’d returned from India, he basked in the sensation and didn’t take it for granted.