“Why?”
“Because you never looked at me.” The words came out before I could stop them. “At family dinners, at holidays, at every single event where we were in the same room. You never talked to me beyond polite small talk.”
“I looked.” His hand tightened on my waist. “I looked constantly. I just made sure you never caught me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I couldn’t let myself want you.” His eyes met mine and the intensity in them made my stomach flip. “Wanting your best friend’s sister felt like a betrayal. Jack trusted me. And wanting you the way I did felt like breaking that trust. So I looked away. I kept distance. I pretended I didn’t notice you.”
“And now?”
“Now you’re my wife. Now I don’t have to pretend anymore.”
I tried to stand. I desperately needed air because being this close to him was making it impossible to think straight.
“Wait,” Michael said.
I ignored him and pushed to my feet, holding the shelf for balance.
I made it halfway to a second step before the world lurched violently again.
My knees buckled. I was falling and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Then Michael’s arms were around me.
He moved so fast I didn’t even see it coming. Just suddenly he was there, catching me, lifting me like I weighed nothing at all. One arm slid under my knees, the other around my back, and suddenly I was against his chest, cradled in his arms.
My breath stuttered.
We were very close. Closer than we’d been since that morning I’d woken up in his bed and found him walking out of the bathroom in just a towel with water dripping down his chest.
I could feel every place we were touching. His chest was solid against my side, all muscle and heat under his t-shirt. His arms were strong under my knees and around my back, holding me steady.
And I could feel his heart. It was beating hard. Too hard. Hammering against his ribs like he’d been running even though he’d just been sitting on the floor with me.
“I can walk,” I managed, the words shaky and unconvincing.
“I know you can.” His voice was low. Almost a growl. “I’m carrying you anyway.”His arms tightened around me. “Because touching you is the only thing keeping me from losing my mind right now.”
Oh.
Heat flooded through me at the honesty in his voice as he started carrying me toward the couch.
I let him carry me.
He set me down on the couch carefully, but he didn’t immediately let go. His hands lingered on my arms.
I stared at his hands. At the way they rested on my arms. Then, I noticed it again.
“Michael.” I looked up at him. “Why are you shaking? And don’t tell me I’m that heavy.”
“I’m not.” His lips twitched slightly. “I’ll get you water.”
He was gone before I could argue.
I sat there thinking about the terror I’d seen in his face earlier. What happened wasn’t worth the kind of panic I’d seen on his face when he’d burst through that door.
I didn’t get to finish the thought because Michael returned carrying water and a book.
