The intensity in his stare makes me shiver. “You know I can’t take love and commitment out of the equation. It’s all or nothing for me.”
“And we both know I can’t give you all the things you need,” I add with a shrug.
“No,” he replies, scoffing. “We don’t know that at all. What makes you so sure you’re not the person I’ve been saving myself for?”
I turn my eyes away when he reminds me of the claims Daisy made earlier this afternoon. “Come on. You’ve made it very clear that I’m not?—”
“When have I ever implied that I only want you for sex?” His tone is deep and serious this time, and suddenly all of my worldly experience doesn’t seem to matter.
“I … well, you …” I sound like the clumsy, young virgin with a crush, distracted by the way his jaw flexes as he waits for me to come up with an answer.
“You haven’t exactly been shy about reminding me of how inconvenient your attraction is, since I don’t meet your qualifications,” I finally manage to articulate.
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. It was stupid and naive of me to have so many expectations for the woman I should fall for, and I never should have let you doubt that you exceeded them in the first place. But I’ve been trying to tell you that I know better now, and the only thing I needherto be isyou.”
“You don’t mean that,” I squeak out in a small voice, because I don’t know what else to say.
“Have you ever known me to be a liar?” he poses with a coy smile.
“Rowan … I can’t let you sacrifice everything you want most.” He looks confused, so I continue. “I can’t give you the family you dream about.”
“None of that means anything to me if I can’t have it with you.”
“Don’t say that,” I whisper, my lip quivering at the realization that I’ve failed him.
“But it’s the truth,” he insists. “I love you, Claire.”
“No,” I whine. “You’re confused. It’s the chemistry messing with your head, and I made it worse when I?—”
“I’m not the one who’s confused. Not anymore.”
“But you walked in on me with another man tonight, and you don’t even seem to care,” I practically wail.
“Of course I care. But you tried to convince me to date someone else first, and when that didn’t work, you kept insisting you only liked me as a friend,” he says with a shrug. “Even though I didn’t actually believe you, how else was I supposed to prove you wrong without letting you figure it out for yourself?”
I feel myself pouting. “But you weren’t even jealous.”
His brow lifts in astonishment. “What the heck do you call that back there?”
“Helping a friend?” I offer.
“A better wingman would have found another way to get ridof Nick that didn’t involve kissing you in front of him,” he admits as his mouth turns up in a dimpled smirk.
“But you …” I can’t even finish my next objection because the thought of him barging in and kissing me like that simply because he wanted to is enough to knock the wind from my lungs.
“I may not be much of a fighter, but I wasn’t about to wait outside for you to reply to a check-in text after finding some other man’s truck in the driveway. I’m nice, but I’m notthatnice.”
I bite my lip, unable to resist the urge to push his buttons. “Were you really jealous?”
He lets out a low growl. “Baby, I’m jealous of Oscar and Frankie as soon as you start giving belly rubs,” he teases, making me simper.
He reaches out for my hand and begins playing with my fingers as he continues. “I’m resentful of my sister, because she gets to live so close to you and see you all the time. I’m pretty sure I’ve developed my first grudge, thanks to your ex. And I’ve never been envious of an inanimate object before, but I’d give anything to trade places with your chest waders. Hell, I’m still bitter because you won’t let me help you with your charts,” he divulges. “And you doubted I was ready to risk it all when I found out you were on adatetonight?”
“Wait, did you just say you’re jealous of my midwife?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.
He shrugs shyly. “To be fair, the chest-waders thing was much weirder.”
“Is it weird that I like it?” I ask coyly.
