Lifting her chin, she strove for a playful tone when she could barely get air into her lungs. “Is that a proposal, Colt Calvert?”
“No, more of an acknowledgement.” He tapped the end of her nose, and she swatted his hand away. “You’ll know when I’m proposing.”
“Really.”
“Yeah, there’ll be a ring.” His broad shoulders moved in an easy shrug. “Not to mention, we’ll have been dating more than three weeks.”
She slumped under the slight weight of those words. So she was the kind of girl who knew what she wanted.
This time around, anyway.
Was she rushing them?
“Listen.” He picked up her left hand, rubbing his thumb over her bare ring finger. “I’ve figured out this need you have for security—”
She made a wounded sound in her throat. He made her sound soneedy.
Lord, was she rushing them and clinging, too? A cringe worked over her.
“Holly.” At the quiet command in his voice, she lifted her gaze to his, mostly serious, a lot affectionate, a tad amused. “I’m committed, okay? To you and what we’re building together.”
“Ugh.” She couldn’t make herself tug away from that light hold, the strong connection of her hand in his. “You make me sound like—”
She snapped her mouth shut before the name that stood for everything selfish and ugly made it past her lips. Allison had defined clingy and controlling. Tick hadn’t been able to take two steps without her being all over him, wanting to know where he’d been, what he’d been doing, who he'd been with.
She’d smothered him and smoothed it all over with sex and manipulation because, my Lord, Lamar had been a naive, moonstruck little lamb.
Colt lifted a brow, waiting.
“Like a clinging vine.” She stared him down. “I’m not.”
“Of course you’re not.” His fingers flexed about hers. “You think I don’t want to know you’re committed to what we’re making here?”
“I am.” She released a slow exhale, aware of the tension trembling in her abdominal wall. Why did this feel like the aftermath of a confrontation? She’d experienced that shakinessbefore, after Allison confronted her alone in a restroom at school, cornered her without warning and demanded she stay away from Lamar.
As if.
He made another pass over her ring finger. “We’re gonna be fine, Holly.”
Eyes prickling with hot tears that made no sense, she sucked in a shallow breath and nodded. His gentle hold tightened, and she tried for a deeper breath.
“Don’t do that.” With a groan that shared space with a pained chuckle, he cupped her head with his other hand and leaned in to kiss her. “I hate when you cry.”
“I’m not crying.” She knuckled under one eye, blinking hard. Thank the Lord for waterproof makeup.
“Come here.” With a rueful sound, he engulfed her in a cedar-and-ocean scented hug, warm and steady and everything she needed. She clutched at his shirt beneath his shoulder blades and rested her ear over his heartbeat, the rhythmic thud calming her.
He laughed, darn him, rubbing a palm over her spine. “Who knew Holly Callahan of all people would be a bundle of emotional vulnerability?”
“Don’tdothat.” She pulled back far enough to land a punch on his arm.
“Ouch.” He rubbed the spot. “You gotta quit doing that. All those years of softball and you hit harder than you think.”
“You can’t joke about this, Colton.” She sniffed. “Your daddy didn’t leave you emotionally.”
“No.” He shook his head, all facetiousness gone from his features. “Part of my mama did, and I don’t think she ever quite came all the way back.”
Breathless, she nodded. “It’s the same, but different. Sue doesn’t quite know how to let go of you, but she’s afraid all the time. She turned you into a project without meaning to. Daddy wanted to let go, but felt like he couldn’t. He turned me into a duty he dropped as soon as he could.”
