“You clearly don’t because you would have known that I don’t have any interest in getting married. But you do. You’ve always wanted to settle down and start a family.”
Marcus took a step toward her but stopped when she shot him a warning look. “I thought…” He frowned and stared at the floor. “I get that you’re scared.”
“Scared?” Her voice rose in pitch. “This isn’t about being scared. This is about my needs. I told you I didn’t want to get married. You knew this.”
His jaw clenched. “Yeah, but I thought things might have changed.”
Wynter shook her head, scoffing. “Why would you ever think something like that?”
“I don’t know,” his own voice rose. “Maybe because you and I have grown up since we were in high school. Maybe because we’re older and wiser, and this is a reasonable step for two people who care about each other.”
She gaped at him.
“You care about me, Wynter,” he said and pointed at her. “Don’t bother denying it. Everyone can see it’s written all over your face.”
“I wasn’t going to deny it,” she snapped. “But that doesn’t mean we’d be good together. It’s the opposite, in fact.”
“What?” Marcus strode toward her then, eating up the distance between them. “You’re not making any sense. Wanting to be with someone is the foundation of being good together.”
“You’re wrong. Two people can have chemistry. They can care about each other. Love each other, even. But if they can’t see eye-to-eye on the most basic parts of a relationship, then that relationship is doomed to fail.”
Marcus ignored her logic and plowed through with his own. “Only when those two people aren’t willing to put forth the work. We all have issues, Wynter. You’re not special in that regard. But when you find someone who is willing to look past those issues and help you conquer them, then you give that person a chance.” His chest was heaving and spots were forming in his vision. Hedidn’t care that he was getting overworked. This was important. She was important. And he wasn’t going to let her run away from this any longer.
Wynter sighed, her shoulders drooping. A spark of triumph lit the darkness in his soul, but it was snuffed out completely when she shook her head and slumped onto the edge of the bed. She placed her face in her hands, and her voice sounded so defeated. “That’s not how it works, Marcus. In the real world, that’s not how it works.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
Slowly she lifted her eyes to him. “This is why I tried so hard to keep this from getting out of hand. I needed to keep you at arm’s length, so you didn’t develop feelings for me.”
He snorted derisively. “Well, you failed.”
Her flinch was like a dagger to the gut, and Marcus wanted nothing more than to pull her into his chest for a hug. She wouldn’t allow that, though. She’d only shove him away, and knowing that hurt even more.
“Marcus,” she whispered, pleading, “it’s not going to work.”
“Why?” he demanded, anger seeping back into his words. “You know you can stay. You don’t have any excuses.”
“What do you mean?” Even as she asked the question, the suspicion in her eyes told him he’d made yet another grave mistake.
Marcus groaned and dragged a hand down his face. “I saw the job offer.”
She didn’t gasp or react. Her expression remained stoic, blank. The only indication that she was upset about this revelation was the way her eyes flashed with accusation.
Wynter rose to her full height, her eyes flicking to the dresser where the letter had been when he’d found it. The letter wasn’t there anymore, so she must have moved it. But they both knewwhat she was thinking before she said it, voice low. “That was an invasion of privacy, Marcus.”
Her cold words sluiced through him, pain lancing in his chest.
“And that’s only one of many issues we’re dealing with.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, straightening.
She scowled at him. “You think you know me. You think you’re in love with me. But you don’t have any clue what’s going on. You’re in love with the idea of us. There’s no way that you could possibly want a future with me because you don’t fully understand what that would entail. No one enters a marriage as blind as you clearly are. The only thing I don’t understand is what was going through your head when you cooked up this whole plan. What happens when you realize you’ve made a mistake?”
“The only mistake I made was doing this in front of our family and friends,” he said. “I love you, Wynter.”
She shook her head. “You love who you think I am.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she held up a hand.
