For one reckless moment, I convince myself he’s trying to tell me something without saying it. It feels like he’s talking about me. Like I’m thesomewhere else.
Fragile hope rises to the surface, infiltrating my heart and mind.
No.
Don’t do this to yourself, Meadow. You’ll only break your own heart.
I shove the thought down hard, burying it before it can take root and wreck me.
“And kids?” I recover, clearing my throat. “Do you want them?”
His eyes flick between mine, as if he’s searching for the answer in my gaze.
“I mean, I think I do,” he responds, voice thick. “But only with the right person. Someone I can be myself with. Someone who doesn’t make everything feel like a fucking checklist.”
Neither of us looks away.
Jesus Christ, why does he keep making it feel like he’s talking about me?
As my pulse thunders in my ears, I force myself to blink and break the spell brewing between us.
“I get it,” I say, my tone low and breathy. “I hope you find that one day.”
His jaw ticks, not with anger, but with a dark heat. His gaze turns to coal as flames rise behind his eyes. There’s a possessive edge to his stare that turns my lungs to ash.
“Yeah,” he clips, his voice short and rough. “Me too, Meadow.”
He holds my stare as a territorial flare fills his gaze, as if the idea of someone else giving me that life makes him physically sick.
Shit.
This is all too much.
The air feels too thin.
The room feels like it’s caving in on me.
My skin feels like it’s on fire.
I need an escape.
Right the hell now.
“You still want to go to the pool?” I rush out. “I could go for a night swim right now.” I lie, my belly uncomfortably full from our feast.
Actually, I could dive into an ice bath given how flushed I feel right now.
His mouth curves slowly as a flicker of relief fills the lines of his handsome face.
“Let’s do it.”
And that’s when I know that I’ve truly screwed myself. Because just when I thought the tension between us was too much for me to handle, I realized that I’m about to see Owen half-naked for the first time.
God help me.
EIGHT
Owen
