She shook her head, feeling suddenly exhausted. ‘Just stop, Noah.’
‘I don’t …’ He ducked his head, trying to catch her eye when she refused to look at him. ‘Did I do something to upset you?’
‘For god’s sake!’ She launched from her seat and turned on him. ‘Just stop being so perfect!’
He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets, and eyed her warily. ‘No one’s perfect. Least of all me.’
‘But youare!’ She knew she was being unfair, but her emotions had been building since that kiss and they’d finally reached boiling point. ‘You’re always looking out for me, asking me if I’m okay, giving me what I need. No one ever does that, Noah. At least, they didn’t before I came here.’
His jaw hardened. ‘I’m not going to apologise for looking out for you.’
She glared at him, wanting to both throttle him and throw herself at him at the same time. Wanting to feel his hands on her and taste him. Press her body to his.
But she stood her ground.
‘And this?’ She held up the box containing the phoenix pendant. ‘Do you care to explain this?’
Sighing, he ruffled his hair. ‘It’s my way of saying that I think you should stay, but I realise now that I probably should’ve had the conversation with you in private.’
The fight left her and she dropped her hand. ‘I can’t stay, Noah.’
He sank onto the couch. ‘I don’t get it. What’s stopping you?’
Of course he wouldn’t get it. He’d lived his entire life in one place, always surrounded by the people who loved him.
She dropped into the armchair. ‘I’ve built a life for myself in Queensland. I have a stable job and a home I love.’
‘You have a job here,’ he argued. ‘Or you could easily get another one if that’s what you’d prefer. And, don’t forget, you have a house here, too. I promise, Beth, I can turn it into the home of your dreams. All you need to do is choose tostay.’ His blue eyes burned with determination, with need.
Which made her all the more resolute.
‘I can’t.’ Pulling her feet up, she hugged her knees to her chest, hoping to protect her heart from the only man who’d ever had the power to break it.
Noah stood, his frustration evident in the way he paced the room and in the angry set of his jaw when he turned to face her. ‘Why not?’
She clamped her mouth shut, though it wasn’t because she was unwilling to answer. She just didn’t know how to bare her soul.
‘Don’t I deserve an answer?’
Her chin trembled, because, yes, he did deserve an answer. He deserved everything.
The next thing she knew, the truth was spilling from her. ‘Because the people I love alwaysleave. My dad, Mum. They’re both gone, Noah! They’re gone, and I have no one in this world who belongs to me.’
His demeanour changed at her outburst, sympathy rolling off him in waves, his face falling as if he could feel her pain. And then he was kneeling before her once more.
‘Don’t you see, Beth?’ He reached for her hand and his eyes searched hers, imploring, even as he wiped her tears away. ‘That’s all the more reason to stay.’
She wanted to, so badly. Had realised it ages ago but had been unwilling to admit it. And Noah made it sound so easy.
‘We all need connection, Beth. You have that here.’
Closing her eyes, she relished his touch and vowed to remember this moment. When she went back to her lonely existence in Townsville, she’d draw on it and maybe it would help her to not feel so alone.
‘Beth, look at me, please.’
She knew she shouldn’t, but some instinct deep within her made her do as he asked. She regretted it instantly—it was as if he could see straight into her soul.
‘Youbelonghere.’ His tone brooked no argument, as if those words were the most profound truth he’d ever spoken. ‘You belong here with people who love you. With people who knew your family and can help you find your roots. And you said it yourself, if things had been different, you might’ve grown up here. Don’t you deserve the chance to explore what might’ve been?’
