Before you lose him.
Gage was watching her with those too-blue eyes.
Something flickered. Like he’d accounted for this outcome. His fingers curled around the box. Not snapping it shut. Giving her one final chance to stop him.
Yes!
Her mind shrieked.
YES YES YES!
The words echoed so loudly inside her, she was sure he could hear them. Said with all the force of someone who still believed she could choose him.
Begging every part of her to move, to speak, to catch the moment before it fell.
But nothing happened. Her mouth didn’t open. Her knuckles were white.
And he understood.
Nodded once. And shut the box.
He slipped it back into his pocket.
“Gage—”
“I’ll take you home.”
I didn’t mean to ruin this.
But it was already too late. Because he knew she wasn’t going to say yes.
And Gage King never asked a question he didn’t already know the answer to.
Chapter Forty-Three
Two days had passed since the proposal.
Bea hadn’t really slept. Or eaten.
Now he was here.
She was curled up on the edge of her couch, knees pulled tight to her chest. Gage sat across from her, legs apart, forearms resting on his thighs.
He hadn’t touched her. Not a brush, not a hand to her back.
The silence stretched, then cracked.
“I need more time,” she said.
Gage’s head was down, gaze fixed on the space between his hands. “Time for what?”
“To grow up,” she said softly. “I love you, Gage. I wanted to say yes. I tried. But…”
His head lifted. His eyes met hers. “You’re not ready.”
Bea nodded once. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Gage leaned back against the couch, tilting his head toward the ceiling. “Bea. That’s not how this works.”
