He glanced out the window at the curtain of falling snow. He should have known she’d use riding to work things out in her head. So did he. “Tomorrow might not be a good day for that.”
“Or it could be perfect. I checked the weather and the snow should stop around midnight. I love riding over fresh snow.”
Sounded nice, but she clearly wasn’t inviting him along. Maybe she’d accepted his refusal to tell his sob story, though, since she hadn’t brought up the subject first thing out of the box.
That didn’t mean they were hunky-dory, though. Just the opposite. Evidently she felt the need to distance herself. If he had to guess, he’d say she wanted to get clear on whether to continue this relationship. In the process, she’d give him time to reconsider his stance.
He sucked in air. “Is this what people call a soft breakup?”
“Absolutely not.” She stuck the needle in the furry part, put the hat aside and turned to him. “I want to be with you.”
“Except you’re leaving early.”
“Because I need to assess where we are. Where I am.”
“Looks to me like we’re both sitting on the couch in my loft.” A voice in his head corrected it to our loft.
She made a face. “You know what I mean.”
“I do. Just trying to lighten the moment.”
“A lot’s happened in a short time.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“It started as a strong attraction and, let’s be honest, it quickly ramped up to good old-fashioned lust.”
“You’ll get no argument on that.”
“But now it’s….” Her voice trailed off.
The warm, steady light in her eyes pushed the air right out of his lungs. She sat there just looking at him, her breathing shallow and her cheeks pink.
Alrighty, then. He’d be a fudging fool if he let this moment pass, if he didn’t say what she almost had. “It’s love.”
Chapter Thirty
Damn it, she was gonna cry.
“I love you, Mila.” Cole turned sideways and took her hands in his. “While you’re out on your ride, please add that into the mix. I love you.”
She blinked quickly and staved off the worst of it. A few tears still dribbled down.
He leaned over and kissed her damp cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s happy tears.” She sniffed. “I love you, too. I just figured saying it was counterproductive.”
That startled a laugh out of him. “Not the word I would have chosen.”
She squeezed his hands and scooted closer. “Love muddies the waters.”
“You see mud, I see a miracle. You love me.” His eyes blazed with emotion. “You fudging love me. Can you imagine how that makes me feel?”
“I can. Oh, I can.” She locked onto the passion in his gaze, her heart beating fast. “And I really want?—”
“Babies?”
“Yes, eventually, but what I?—”
