It was written all over her beautiful face. From the crease between her brows to her set jaw to the way she bit down on her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Something was wrong, and I might not be able to fix it.
My shoulders dropped immediately. “Eliza.”
“Leo, I don’t think we should?—”
I shook my head, repeating her name again. Maybe if I kept her from finishing her sentence, she’d realize what a mistake this was.
“This was always going to end,” she said, and those six words knocked the wind out of me. “You’re…well, you’re leaving. This is?—”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’thaveto leave.” I paused. “Let’s give this a real shot, Eliza. You and me. I could stay?—”
“You can’t stay,” she said quickly, her voice sharp and panicked. Her eyes flared with so much fire. If only she used that fire to fight for us rather than against. “I don’t want you to give up your dreams and stay for me. That’s not—that wasn’t part of the plan.”
“I wouldn’t just be staying for you. Eliza, I’m happier with you than I’ve been in any other place.” My hands flexed at my sides, desperately wanting to reach for her, but that would scare her even more. As much as this hurt, I knew she was pushing me away out of fear. “You were special from the moment I saw you. And I think it wouldn’t matter where I was or if I got what I thought was my dream job if it meant I didn’t have you.”
“You want to be in the city at a fine dining restaurant. Not here.”
My jaw clenched. “And what’s so wrong with being here?” Eliza loved Golden Falls. It was her favorite place. Why couldn’t she realize that I’d come to love it, too? That anywhere she was would be where I wanted to exist. “And don’t say some bullshit about me being too good for this town.”
She promptly closed her mouth.
“You don’t think it’s a sign that we’re finally in the same place? That we could give this a real try—that wehavegiven it a try, and we work, Eliza. We work really fucking well together.”
“Leo,” she whispered, a crease forming between her brows.
“You’re scared.”
“I’m not,” she said stubbornly.
She almost had me. But then her lip quivered. Maybe what gutted me the most—that it seemed like she was making a choice she didn’t necessarily want to make.
She straightened her spine, gathering her composure. “What do I have to be scared of?”
“My feelings for you,” I said. “And your feelings for me.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and I knew—Iknew—what she was going to say before she even said it. Because I knewher.
“And don’t tell me that you don’t have feelings for me.”
Her nostrils flared, and her jaw clenched. “You don’t know that’s what I was going to say.”
“I do, Eliza. Because I know you. I know you’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. That you would do anything for your friends and family. That you make a mean margarita and love tequila. I know that you fiddle with your rings when you’re nervous and that you’re scared of letting someone in because you don’t want to lose yourself. That you don’t want to lose the people you care about. I love those things about you, Eliza. I love how deeply you careabout the people you love. I don’t want to change anything about you—never have and never will. I want you exactly as you are.”
Tears welled in her brown eyes. “It’s not that simple,” she croaked.
I shook my head, because itwasthat simple. Itcouldbe that easy.
“I can’t do this, Leo. It’s all…it’s all too much. It’s not what we agreed to, and I just…I can’t.”
My jaw tightened, and it felt like the world was falling out from under me.
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked, my eyes fixed on her.
“Does it matter?”
“It matters. Of course it matters.” Because if she wanted this but felt like she couldn’t, then I’d fight for her. I’d fight to show her how good it could be every damn day with us.
But if she wouldn’t do this…then I didn’t want to pressure her into something she didn’t want.
