Sonofabitch.
“There are exceptions, Honor. You even said so yourself.”
“Not in my family.”
“In my family, there are. My grandparents, my aunts and uncles, and despite the mess right now, even my parents. We could be an exc
eption, too. We are the exception for your family.”
She shook her head. “No. I told you.”
She was so adamant, his voice rose in frustration. “You’re so damn scared you won’t even try to see what’s right in front of you.”
“I’m not scared,” she almost shouted. “Stop telling me what I am. I know what I am.”
“You’re realistic?”
“Exactly.” His sarcasm went right over her head as she stated, “Hartman’s don’t do love. It’s not in our DNA.”
“Do you hear how stupid that sounds?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Wow. Nice.”
“Hey, I’m just being honest. I’ve been nothing but honest with you the whole time.”
“So have I. You knew where I stood.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said stood,” he pointed out.
Her gaze narrowed. “Stand. You know where I stand.”
She was like fucking Roxanna, unable to admit when she was wrong. And she was so damn wrong right now.
“What I know is you’re lying to yourself. You do believe, or at the very least you want to believe, but you’re too afraid to love someone because it’s all about taking a God-awful risk.”
Her gaze flicked away, and he softened his tone.
“It’s worth it, Honor, I promise. I’m right here in front of you, and I’m not going anywhere. All you have to do is trust your heart. What we have can last as long as we want it to. I believe that with every fiber of my being.” His breath hitched at the next part, but he forced the words out. “Which leaves it up to you. Do you want it to last or are you too afraid to even try?”
In the silence of her telling pause, the truth stabbed deep into his soul. This was what Rox had meant with her cryptic text. Don’t push her. It hadn’t been about the trip. It was about this, right here.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t take back his words, and he was reminded of the first day he saw the beautiful, stubborn woman in front of him. Standing on the lawn as her client kneeled in front of her, he’d thought a woman madly in love shouldn’t look away from her lover’s eyes—or the ring—when he was on one knee offering her the rest of his life.
He didn’t have a ring, and he wasn’t on one knee, but the offer of the rest of his life was just as potent. And Honor was staring at the door as if she couldn’t wait to get out of his house and his life forever.
“What people want isn’t always what’s best, Asher.” Her raw, raspy voice dropped to a choked whisper. “This is the way it has to be.”
Then she ripped out his heart and walked out the door.
CHAPTER 31
Honor shoved the bowl of yellow batter out of reach in frustrated dismay. No matter what she did, no matter how she adjusted the ingredients, it didn’t taste right. Nothing she’d baked the past week had tasted right, so this time she’d pulled out the recipe she hadn’t used in over four years to make sure she wasn’t accidentally forgetting something.
There wasn’t a damn thing missing from the recipe.
The only ingredient missing was…Asher.
Better now than later.