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The lash of his incredulous words cut deep.

‘I don’t think the amount of time you’ve known someone has any bearing on how you feel about them.’

‘You’re not thinking at all.’ He grimaced as he shifted in the bed a little.

‘Love isn’t something you think; it’s in here. Just like you said—feel, don’t think.’ She pressed her hand to her chest, eyes resting heavily on his face. Her stomach twisted painfully, then seemed to drop to her toes. ‘But you don’t know that, do you, Tate? Because you don’t feel it.’

His jaw tightened, the dark red bruising there making her heart ache for a whole new reason.

Silence stretched, and with every passing second she felt something inside her shatter beyond repair.

‘I care about you,’ he said, finally, and it was almost the worst thing he could say—so faint, and lacklustre. So bland. ‘You’re pregnant with my baby. That means something.’

She’d been wrong. That was the worst thing he could say. To reduce what they were to her pregnancy made her feel as though she was completely alone, out on a terrifying limb. It made her feel as though this was history repeating itself, except instead of her dad not wanting and loving her, it was Tate. And that was so much worse, because she knew and loved him. He wasn’t an abstract concept, some fictional element of her life she wished she had.

‘Look.’ He shifted again, expression sympathetic. ‘A lot happened today. Seeing the helicopter like that, it must have been frightening for you.’

‘I’m sure it was more frightening for you.’

He tilted his head to the side. ‘I’m just saying, that probably made you feel a heap of things, out of fear, in that moment. Things you don’t really feel.’

‘It made me feel worried,’ she admitted. ‘And yes, seeing your helicopter basically drop out of the sky forced me to stop ignoring what I’ve probably known for days. There’s a reason we can’t stay away from each other. There’s a reason everything between us feels easy and right, that we can’t be in the same room without touching—’

‘That’s just sex,’ he said, firmly, so her heart panged.

‘No.’ It was barely a whisper. ‘It’s so much more than that, and I think, deep down, you know it.’

A muscle clenched in his jaw.

‘I think of you as strong. Fearless. But that’s not true, is it?’

His eyes lanced hers, features guarded.

‘You’re absolutely terrified of this—what I’m offering. You’d rather run a mile over hot coals than admit you love me, too.’

‘Sarah—’ His eyes closed on an emotion she couldn’t comprehend. ‘You’re seeing things that aren’t here.’

She sucked in a sharp breath, the pain of that more than she could bear. She spun away from him, staring at the nondescript white wall across the room. The fierce blade of rejection cut through her, splitting her soul.

She let his words wash over her, let them seep down into her pores. ‘Maybe I am,’ she whispered, still facing the wall. She closed her eyes, trying hard to connect to her inner strength. In her darkest moments, when she’d felt bereft because her father had never wanted her, she’d always known she had her mother. It had been the counterpoint to pain. And while her mother was no longer with Sarah, she had spent all of Sarah’s life loving her, building her up, making her understand that she deserved the absolute best.

‘Look, it’s been a big couple of days,’ he said, voice calm in contrast to the deluge of realisations that were washing through her. ‘Let’s just…take a beat, and talk later.’

She turned to face him slowly, trying to protect herself against the throbbing ache of love that ran through her at the sight of him like this.

‘I can’t do this,’ she said, quietly, but she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was making the right decision. Her eyes fell to his jaw, where a muscle was throbbing visibly.

‘Sarah—’

‘Hear me out,’ she whispered, lifting her hand to forestall whatever else he was going to say. ‘You and I are so alike, Tate. We both of us grew up with a sense we weren’t wanted by the people who should have made us feel safe.’ She twirled her fingers. ‘The people who should have wanted us most of all. You were in your dad’s life, but he made you walk on eggshells to stay there, and your stepmother resented your whole existence. You push people away before they can get close.’

His lips compressed in a grim line, but at least he didn’t interrupt her. Sarah’s voice cracked a little as she continued, ‘And I have spent my whole life living with the reality that my father knew about me and chose not to acknowledge me. Not to love me. And it taught me a lesson I’ll never forget: I won’t settle. I won’t settle for anything other than love. I deserve it. I deserve to be with someone who loves me, who can’t live without me. I deserve more than my mother had, more than I’ve ever had.’

‘Sarah—’

‘No.’ Her voice was firm now, as determination brought a shield down over grief, keeping her locked in on what she knew she had to do. ‘And you were wrong. I do know you. I know that you’re a decent guy, who would never ask me to marry you, knowing how I feel about you, if you can’t love me back. Not even for our baby.’

His eyes swept shut as he absorbed that. ‘Today has been crazy,’ he said soothingly, and frustration flared inside her.