Chapter 17 #3
“Because you’re a doctor. I’m not asking you to deliver lambs and treat hoof rot and help me with shots. I have business partners that I happen to be related to. I’m looking for a woman to spend my life with.” Not just any woman. Her.
“That’s a bold statement coming from you.”
“It’s the truth. And I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
She tilted her head. He had her hooked, but how would she react?
“It turns out, we were actually in a relationship.”
She didn’t lose her apprehension. “Yes. We even had a name for it.”
The benefits thing. She was so much more than a friend. “You had the courage to tell me when you wanted more, and I chickened out.”
“I chickened out, too.” She clutched her hands together.
“I was jealous of Devya because she got all the attention. I’m almost thirty damn years old and I was as envious as a ten-year-old.
And Mom and Dad? Gallivanting around the globe?
I should’ve been happy for them, but I felt abandoned.
They don’t tell you that you can feel like that as an adult.
” She made a disgusted noise. “I felt sorry for myself and I was too ashamed to admit that to you.”
He knew her parents’ inattention had bothered her. “You’d been away for years, but when you came home, they kept living like you were gone.”
“Right? For good reason. They should travel while they’re still healthy enough to.
” She rushed on, like he’d opened the gates to greener pastures.
“I had no friends. They didn’t know that.
I didn’t even realize that. I hid behind Maisy as much as she hid behind me.
My job? I was losing all my patients, wondering what was wrong with me, but you were raising a son all by yourself and running a business. It seemed…insignificant.”
He drifted close enough to put his hands on her shoulders.
“And Emmett made you feel insignificant, so you didn’t talk about him either.
I understand that. I failed when I kept my walls up.
I didn’t let you know how important you are to me.
How important you are to my son. And how I want to know everything about you. I’m in love with you, Priya.”
Her eyes widened, the whites practically glowing.
The way the lights danced in her irises only highlighted how stunning she was.
“You can’t…” She shook her head. That’s right.
She knew very well he wouldn’t say anything he didn’t mean.
“Why now? What in the last month made you think that suddenly you’re not only ready for a real relationship, but for one with me? ”
“Not having you around was a pretty good wake-up call. And how you didn’t try to contact me. You moved on.”
“I missed you,” she whispered.
It was hearing that she’d missed him, but seeing that she was moving on without him, that broke the remnants of any walls remaining. He had one last fear of hers to lay to rest.
“Katherine and Martin mentioned seeing you. Then they said that I don’t talk about you as much as I used to.
‘Used to ramble on and on’ were the words they used.
Katherine asked if we had been seeing each other quietly because of everything and if that everything broke us up.
I said I screwed up and would do anything to get you back. ”
Her gaze sharpened and fear simmered in her golden depths. “How did they take it?”
“They’re watching Isaiah so I can be here.”
Her eyes glistened, and she pressed her lips together.
He stroked the back of his finger down her cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“I’ve cried a lot over you.”
Instead of dropping his hand at the shame running through him, he moved even closer until they were barely touching. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
She blinked and looked up at him. “It wouldn’t have been so hard if I didn’t love you, too.”
“Can we love each other together?” He pressed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.
“Can we talk all night over a glass of wine when we’re not tangled together in my freshly washed sheets?
Can you go and do all your doctoring while I go and do all my ranching and we’ll tell each other all about it afterward?
” He planted another light kiss on the other side of her mouth. “Will you complete my little family?”
“You have a huge family.” She smiled as she said it. “And the best baby in the world.” When she slipped her arms around his shoulders, he wanted to rejoice. “Do you want more kids?”
“Only if you do. And whenever you do. And only if you stick around to help me.” He grinned. “But what are the odds that two babies in a row can have colic?” The look she gave him stopped his laughter. “Then you gotta promise to stick around. We make a good team.”
“One more thing. I’m going to Paris this summer to see my sister. You’re welcome to come, and if you can’t, I’m going anyway.”
“We’ll recruit some grandparents and have a getaway.”
She brushed her hands along his shoulders and gave his biceps an appreciative squeeze. “If you want to grow that beard back, I won’t complain.”