“I hope you don’t think you’re moving in with me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. In fact, I’ve already got my eyes on the perfect place,” he retorts.
“And what about your job?” I demand.
“I have a job, remember?”
I shake my head, and he sighs.
“Dr. Simms is retiring, and he and Tenley have asked me to buy him out of the practice. I’ll be working as a general OB most of the time, but I don’t mind. And I’ll still get to see my high-risk patients in between.”
My head is swimming with all this new information. “So, you’re sticking around for a demotion?”
“I’m sticking around because I want to be here,” he repeats.
“For me?” I ask in a small voice.
“Your presence in Camellia definitely carried the bulk of the weight in my decision, but you’re not the only person I care about here.”
I glower at him. “Tell me you didn’t uproot your life to be closer to me, Rowan. Not this soon, and not without talking to me aboutit first.”
He growls. “Look, I didn’t exactly plan for it to happen this way, but everything started falling into place right around the same time you finally softened up to the idea of us. And I was already looking for a way out of my life in Baton Rouge, if I’m being honest. What was I supposed to do, turn down that offer in case you might feel pressured to spend more time with me?”
“Well, no, but?—”
“And you’re the one who told me to stop being so nice. You said you wanted a man who wasn’t afraid to make you feel desired.” He takes a step closer and spreads his arms, but I see his pulse throbbing in his neck. “Well, here I am. I want you, Claire. I can’t live without you. And I’m not backing down.”
My chest heaves. “But … but this isn’t fair!”
He turns his eyes up as he pretends to consider my claim. “Why, because I actually listened and followed your advice? Or because I’m not giving you a chance to hide from your feelings this time?”
I open my mouth to protest, then snap it shut once I realize I have no argument. He raises his brow and gestures for me to offer a rebuttal, but all I can do is cross my own arms and pout.
“Come here,” he begins, reaching out to tug on my elbow. I let out a shaky exhale as he unwraps my arms and pulls me in. “I’m sorry I haven’t told you about this sooner. I swear, I wanted to include you in this decision, but I was more afraid of overwhelming you or making you feel like you owed me some level of commitment you weren’t ready for. And the opportunity was too good to pass up.”
“And you really didn’t expect your decision to change anything between us?”
“Of course not. All my hopes and dreams are pretty much riding on you taking it as a romantic gesture,” he tells me with a self-deprecating smile.
“I guess this is what you meant about having all those plans on the back burner,” I say dryly.
“Mostly,” he admits. “I actually tried weaving it into our conversation earlier, but the longer we talked, the clearer it became that you needed to understand exactly how I feel about youfirst.”
“You see why I’ve had to be so careful?” I grumble from within his arms. “This is exactly what I was afraid you’d do.”
He’s still smiling, though, as if he’s already won. “What, call your bluff and make you consider a future with me?”
“Rowan,” I begin, hesitating before I continue. “It’s not that I couldn’t picture us together this whole time. I just hated how much you’d have to sacrifice to make it happen.”
He furrows his brow at my confession. “A career shift and an address change are nothing if it means I never have to spend my days without you.”
“You would say that,” I roll my eyes as I stifle a smile.
“I mean it.” He takes my hand and places it on his chest before he covers it with his own, and that mixture of contentment and reassurance washes over me again. “No one has ever made me feel the way you do. You know that, right?”
My eyes flutter as I struggle to form a reply. “It’s the same for me, too,” I concede.
“I’m so grateful for the past few months we’ve had together. You’ve become my best friend, my favorite person, and I don’t think I could ever go back to a life without you in it,” he swallows the emotion lodged in his throat. “And I realize I’m asking you to take a huge risk, but I promise it’ll be different this time. I’m so in love with you, Claire, and I know this is where I’m meant to be. Here, with you.”
