He tensed, fully having expected her to pull away from, to call all of this a mistake. It was a surprise, a very wonderful surprise, when she didn't, when she smiled that lovely smile of hers that he trusted with every fiber of his being and he was relieved to receive her kiss.
Because he wasn't ready to talk about it, not yet, and she was willing to give him that time. But he knew that these feelings were real and valid, he felt that in her kiss.