What would he do? Would he say it back?
She didn’t know.
The only thing she did know, though was that it was real. As real as the metal floor she stood on, and the air she breathed—and it still smelled funny—but it was real.
Just like her feelings.
It was a sensation she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
For anyone.
Something she wasn’t sure she’d feel again for a very long time. Yet here she was, feeling that feeling, that intense sensation of love.
She did.
Polly loved him.
But how would he respond? He wasn’t human. He wouldn’t love her back. He said that it didn’t work that way for his species.
Would this be like a one-sided thing? Would it even matter if she told him the words? They couldn’t possibly mean to him what they meant to her.
Regardless, should that stop her?
Knowing that he may not feel the same as her? Maybe the Charro didn’t love at all? Not like humans.
Maybe she was fooling herself for even letting emotions come between this. It was a transaction, after all.
She had agreed that she would do this, and then go home at the end. Wasn’t that the deal?
Maybe she was being a fool for even letting her feelings come into play. Obviously, this was a lot bigger than just a dating thing for him. This was his culture. Did she think she was enough to balance that out for him?
He didn’t have to commit to anything other than keeping her safe over the thirty days.
“Are you well, Polly?” Erzo whispered, his arms wrapping around her again.
She nodded. “I think so,” she replied.
“You’re staring at me.”
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “I am.”
He leaned down to her. “What is playing out behind your eyes?”
“We’ll give you a minute,” Carvassa said, and she grabbed Breal’s arm. “Come on.”
“What?”
“Give them a minute,” Carvassa said.
Their footsteps echoed on the floor as they went outside the room to the hallway.
"Are you well?" Erzo asked, his brow marred with worry.
“I am, I think,” Polly replied. “So many emotions, but yeah. I’m okay. I think.”
He ran his hands over her arms. “Are you in pain? Does everything feel right?”
Polly nodded. “I think it does.”
