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“Sorry. I just— I wanted to thank you so much for your kindness and for considering me for your foundation. You have no idea how much it meant to me.”

She paused, and when she spoke again, there was a new edge. “Is everything okay, dear?”

“And I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry if I overstepped my bounds, or if I did anything to offend you.”

“Shay, darling. To what are you referring exactly?”

“Um. Just in general.”

Her soft laugh filtered through the speaker. “Now, that’s not true, is it?”

“I’m sorry, Nessa,” I said. “I have to go.”

“Shay, darling, please wait⁠—”

“Goodbye.”

I hung up and let the tears come. A stiff wind swept down the alley, highlighting the tear tracks and making me shiver. I wanted to leave, to go straight back to bed and curl up under the covers. Somehow, I still had to get through four more hours of work before I could do that.

After several minutes, the heavy door that led into the building opened, and I turned away from it, not wanting to be seen dripping like a faucet. The footsteps, however, treaded my way.

“Honeycutt,” Cam said softly, and his voice opened the dam once more.

I sobbed.

“Please,” he said, a little closer now.

I shook my head.

He cupped my shoulder, and then he was turning me, and I found myself warm in his arms, my wet face buried in his neck. He rocked me back and forth, soothing all the broken, aching parts of me.

“Shh.” He kissed my messy hair.

“This doesn’t mean I changed my mind.”

“I know.”

“Just because I still love you and your hugs feel like home doesn’t mean we should be together.”

“That’s your opinion.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, and fresh tears spilled out, making my next words wobbly. “The right opinion.”

“You think you’re always right, but you’re wrong about this. You’re going to lose this one, honey. How much of our time do you plan to waste?”

With great difficulty, I stepped out of his arms. “Can I please go home for the day?”

He took a moment to study me, his blue-gray eyes raking over my tear-stained face. “Sure. Whatever you need.”

I nodded and pushed past him. My hand was on the door handle before he spoke again. “But I expect you here Monday.”

I looked at him, silent. Why was he making this more difficult than it needed to be?

Unsmiling, he raised an eyebrow. “I told you. I’m not letting you go without a fight, Honeycutt. I’ll go to war if I have to. I’ll raze the entire goddamn field between us.”

My resolve weakened at the fire in his stare, the passion practically crawling beneath his skin. For years, Cam had been nearly impossible to resist without even trying. Now, he was fighting to hold me close, bewitching my ability to reason. Control was slipping through my fingers and I needed to think. Needed to sleep. Needed him.

I bolted upstairs to grab my things, then escaped before anyone could ask questions. The moment I clipped my seatbelt, my phone rang, the screen flashing Nessa’s name. I considered ignoring it, but the woman had been nothing but nice to me.