“I’ve calculated our chances... I don’t like how they’re looking.” The words left her mouth reluctantly, but some things had to be said. This was one of those things.
He tipped up his chin and set his mouth firmly. “But there is a chance.”
“A small one.”
“I want it. I want you, us. You need to trust me, Dani. You gamble on us, okay? You can’t spend the rest of your life only taking on what appear to be sure things.”
She could. That was the point of this conversation. She didn’t need to risk her heart or her emotions, not when he’d proved before that he specialized in heartbreak.
“Give me a second chance,” he urged.
“Because you love me?”
“That, too,” he said. “And because I think you feel something for me and you want to find out what.”
“Have you really thought this over?”
“What is there to think about? Either we feel something for each other or we don’t. This is about emotions, Dani. It’s not a logic problem or a flow chart.”
“And that’s part of the problem,” she said, hating the bitterness in her own voice. “You always want to jump in feet first. You don’t stop and think. You just act.”
“Try it,” he coaxed. “Jump for me, Dani.”
She sighed. “That’s not who I am, you know that.”
The loud rap on the cabin door was almost a welcome relief. Right there real life was issuing a reminder that she had her grandparents’ business to take care of. She couldn’t deal with all these emotions, not now.
“I need to get that.” She reached for her discarded clothes, pulling them on.
“Then do it.” His hard gaze followed her. “But we’re not done here, Dani. Not by a long shot. Do what you need to do, because I’ll be here waiting for you. You don’t need to calculate the odds on that.”
* * *
SHE OPENED THE door and her day went from bad to worse. Rick stood on her front porch, looking hopeful. He’d armed himself with a bouquet of Stargazer lilies and a wide smile.
And yet she’d finally done her moving on, and he was lying on the bed behind her. Speaking of him, it just occurred to her whose T-shirt she’d pulled on before she cracked the door, although the rub of the cotton against her skin reminded her with every breath she took that she was bare as a baby beneath.
Rick held out the flowers to her. “Can I come in?”
“That’s not a good idea.” She didn’t take the bouquet, and resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. This redefined the awkward morning after. Rick’s eyes dropped to her breasts, the smile faded and she looked down. Yup. Her quick swipe and don from the floor had netted her Daeg’s T-shirt.
“Maybe not.” Rick eyed the gray cotton top, proudly sporting the word Navy across the chest. The T-shirt slid off her shoulder, two sizes too big.
They both knew the shirt wasn’t hers.
He offered the flowers again, more out of politeness, she thought, than any genuine hope they’d be talking or reuniting. All she was doing today with Rick was watching him take his leave.
“You’re not coming back.”
“No.” She met his gaze. “I’m not.”
“All right.” He gave her a wry grin. “But you can’t blame me for trying.”
Part of her wanted to do just that. The rest of her wanted to know why it had taken him so long to come after her and what that meant.
“Maybe you should take a second look at Shari.”
“No.” He was quiet for a minute. “That was my first mistake.”
He gestured toward the T-shirt. “Borrowed?”
“Yes.” If she was lucky, the loaner might stay in bed until she had the door closed again. “I’ll give it back.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t?” Rick guessed.
She wasn’t discussing this with Rick at any point, and certainly not now when she had Daeg waiting for her in bed. Her soldier had to have heard this conversation, anyhow.
“Goodbye, Rick.”
She turned away, shutting the door. She didn’t know what she should be feeling. That was her past that was walking away, everything she’d once dreamed of. She had to be crazy saying no to Rick. She looked at Daeg, and he didn’t seem any less of a risk than he was before.
“Am I on loan?” he asked. He didn’t sound happy.
“I need to think.”
He scoffed and threw the sheets back. He was upset, but there was nothing she could honestly do about that—she wasn’t getting rushed into this. “Just for once, Dani, leap before you look, okay? Can you do that for me? For us?”