Rowan nodded. ‘You’re putting yourself into it.’
The words touched too close to the place Marcus had been trying to protect since yesterday.
‘That’s the plan,’ he said lightly. ‘Windows first. Then the front door. Then the gate. Then the garden. Then possibly the entire kitchen, if I ever find the courage to look too closely at the cupboards. The sitting room, hall and bedrooms last.’
Rowan’s mouth twitched.
Marcus looked down at his plate. ‘I suppose I like the idea of making it mine. Not just living here because I needed somewhere after the accident. Not just being grateful Seagull Bay took me in. Actually choosing it.’
Rowan went quiet.
Marcus knew that silence now.
He set his fork down. ‘And that’s the bit that scares you, isn’t it?’
Rowan did not answer immediately.
A gull cried somewhere down towards the seafront. In the distance, a dog barked. Atlas lifted his head, listened, then settled again.
‘Choosing?’ Rowan asked at last.
‘Staying.’ Marcus looked at him properly then. ‘I heard what you said to Jack yesterday. About being here until the competition is finished. About the next contract.’
Rowan’s expression closed by degrees. ‘Marcus—’
‘I’m not asking you to stay because of me.’
The words came out steadier than Marcus felt.
Rowan’s hand tightened around his fork.
Marcus drew a breath. ‘But I need to know if I’m making room for someone who’s already packed.’
For a moment, Rowan looked as if Marcus had put a hand flat against his chest and stopped him in place.
‘I haven’t packed,’ he said quietly.
‘Maybe not your bags.’
Rowan looked away towards the lane.
Marcus swallowed. ‘I like you, Rowan. More than I probably should, considering we’ve known each other five minutes and half of those minutes have involved wet dogs or emotional chaos.’
That earned him the faintest smile.
It disappeared too quickly.
‘But I can’t be your almost,’ Marcus said. ‘Almost trusted. Almost chosen. Almost part of your life until something easier comes along.’
Rowan’s eyes returned to his. ‘I don’t want something easier.’ Marcus’s breath caught. Rowan looked down at Atlas, who was now dozing beside the step as if Marcus’s front garden had always belonged to him. ‘I don’t know yet what happens after the contract. I don’t know what I’m ready for. But I know I don’t want to leave and pretend this meant nothing.’
Marcus nodded slowly.
It was not everything.
But it was not nothing.
Before either of them could say more, Marcus’s phone buzzed on the step between them. Jack’s name flashed on the screen.
