He studies me for a second. Long enough that I almost look away. “What I do and don’t deserve isn’t up to you. Now, let’s work on getting out of here and back home. You’ll tell me everything, and I’ll help you. It’s that simple.” His voice trails off, and then his eyes find me again. “No ties unless you want them.”
I can’t help but laugh at the irony of his words, staring down at the ring of fire around my finger. “Too late for that.”
His gaze sharpens. “It wasn’t all bad last night. Was it?”
No. Yes.
I don’t know.
“It wasn’t bad at all,” I say. A total understatement. That’s the problem. It was amazing when I get past the hangover part.
He flashes me a lopsided grin, and my heart softens behind my ribs. “But I don’t get to want things like this,” I add quietly.
Something flickers across his face. “Everybody gets to want something,” he says.
“Not like this.”
“Why not?”
Because the last time I wanted something, I lost everything.I press my lips together, shaking my head. “I’ll explain later.”
His eyes are warm and attentive, his face open and honest. Everything I should want in a man. Everything Idowant… if I was allowed to want anything.
Silence stretches between us. The city moves around us, loud and relentless, but it feels distant. Like we’re standing still while everything else keeps going.
“You’re asking me to walk away,” he says finally.
“I am.”
“Not gonna happen.”
My breath catches. “What?”
“I’m not walking away from you,” he says simply.
My chest tightens. “I know I’m repeating myself, but you don’t understand what I could bring into your life.”
“I don’t care.”
“That’s not something you get to decide.”
“Feels like it is.”
I let out a shaky breath. This is going wrong. So very, very wrong.
“Donovan—”
“Scarlett.”
The way he says it wrecks me. Like it matters. Like I matter.
I hate it. I want more of it.
God, what’s wrong with me?
Make up your mind already.
“We need to go,” I say again, softer now.
