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A twinge went through her. He didn’t just keep himself physically closed off from the world. He’d closed off his heart, too. With that kind of shield, he must have been lonely for most of his life.
“People can break your heart.” She caught her breath slightly when he slipped his hand up to her ankle. “But they don’t have to break your visions or your beliefs. They don’t have to break you.”
He studied her for a moment, his hand still wrapped around her ankle. “I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to stay away from you.”
“Whoa.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Be still my beating heart.”
He gave her a mild glower. “Even though I wanted to get closer to you.”
Her pulse quickened. “So why didn’t you? Oh, wait. I get it.” She gestured between them. “Secret bestselling author. Reporter. Oil and water. Hatfield and McCoy.”
He twisted his mouth in regret. “Stupid of me.”
“Don’t say that.” She hugged the pillow to her chest and searched for anyhurtover the idea of Sam purposely avoiding her, but there was nothing but understanding. She’d learned the hard way how necessary it was to protect yourself. “I have journalistic curiosity in my blood, so honestly, if I were you, I’d have avoided me too.”
His eyes grazed hers before he shook his head with faint disbelief. “There’s a saying that the strongest trees have the deepest roots. You’re proof of that.”
Her throat tightened unexpectedly. “I’m very lucky to have my family and the life they gave me. But I haven’t proven I’m strong and resilient. Not yet, anyway.”
“You don’t have to prove it.” He reached back to tuck a pillow under his neck. “You already are.”
No, she wasn’t. Strong, resilient people didn’t stick their heads in the sand and try to ignore all the scary uncertainties of the world. Of their own lives.
But she was trying to change that, and it gave her great pleasure to think that Sam already saw her as strong and resilient. She just needed to prove it to herself.
He slid his fingers under the hem of her yoga pants. His T-shirt rode up again, exposing the taut band of muscles that she could see herself touching. And kissing. And licking…
Clearing her throat, she jerked her attention back to his face. “So you’ve really never been in love? Not even a little bit?”
He made a noncommittal noise. “Nothing that ever stuck.”
Brooke half laughed and half groaned. “Love isn’t flypaper, Sam. It doesn’t juststick. Two people have to work to hold on to it. With both hands. That’s how it lasts. How it endures through changes, heartbreak, and crises. Throughtime.”
“You learned that from romance novels?”
“From true love stories. My parents and grandparents, my uncle who stuck by my aunt’s side as she struggled with a pain-killer addiction. My cousin and her husband who’ve been trying to have a baby for the past five years. I love romance novels and happily ever after, but real-life love stories don’t end there. There’s a whole lot ofafterafter happily ever after.”
“Exactly.” Lines appeared at the corners of his mouth. “That’s when it all goes to hell. In theafter.”
“Not always.” Brooke rested her chin on her folded arms. “Theafteris when you really discover you’ve chosen the right person. The one who won’t leave your side. The one who will weather all storms with you.”
Even sudden blizzards.
She pushed that thought quickly away.
He gave her ankle a gentle tug, easing her foot out from under her. Brooke let him pull her down onto the pillows next to him. He was lying on his back, and she gazed at his strong profile that was softened only by the thick half-moons of his eyelashes.
Though she found his resistance to even the idea of romance to be both frustrating and baffling in equal measure, there was no denying her pleasure in unpeeling the layers of his mystery.
“I have an idea,” she said.
“Uh oh.”
She poked him in the side. “You need to stop thinking about John and Patricia for a while and…wait for it…get in touch with your inner feelings.”
“I’ll send them a postcard.Having a great time, wish you were here.”
Brooke huffed out a laugh and propped herself up on her elbow. “You could have an even better time if you’d acknowledge your emotions.”
