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Sebastian huffs, darkly amused, and stops. His broad, tanned palms land on the pale quartz surface. Even with this much distance and solid stone between us, I don’t feel safe.
Sebastian looms over the island, watching me. “If you want me to leave this house, baby girl, you’re going to explain to me what’s going on in that head of yours. And you’ll have to dumb it down enough that a redneck like me can understand it.”
“Don’t give me that dumb hick routine, Sebastian,” I say, rolling my eyes. “We both know you’re an intelligent man.”
“I’m not feeling real intelligent right now, because I have no idea what I did wrong.”
He doesn’t know what he did wrong?Hedoesn’t know what he did wrong?
“You proposed to me!” I shout. “You did exactly what you did twenty-five years ago. You made me think—hope—that you understood me, understood who I am and what I want, and then you turned around and slapped me in the face.”
He lets out a long breath, opens his mouth, then reels himself in again. I watch him comb both hands through his hair, pinch the bridge of his nose, and visibly get himself under control again. “Georgia,” he finally says in a pointedly patient tone. “If you don’t want to get married, we won’t get married. End of story. Okay?”
My lip wobbles. “I’m not going back to Texas.”
Sebastian’s hair is sticking up in all directions. His eyes are bewildered. “Fine. That’s fine. We won’t go to Texas.”
I frown.
He frowns back.
“But…your house,” I say weakly. This isn’t me. I’m a successful woman who’s built businesses and made a fortune. I’ve fired people. I’ve had hard conversations. I sat across a boardroom table from my ex-husband and surgically divided the life we’d created together. I’m better than this, stronger than this.
There’s just something about tearing my heart out and showing it to Sebastian that’s beyond me. The love I feel for him is so big, so overwhelming, that I can’t find the words to say what I need to say.
I take a deep breath. “Christine told me about your old house going on the market. She said with the money from the gallery opening, she’d put an offer as a gift to you.” Miraculously, my voice comes out relatively tremble-free, but I still don’t have the courage to look at Sebastian.
Seconds tick by.
Finally, I close my eyes for a beat, then open them back up to meet his gaze.
He looks…horrified. Completely, utterly appalled.
“You thought…” He sucks in a long breath. “You thought I’daccept? You thought I’d take money out of my little girl’s pocket just so I could buy back that old heap of crap?” Understanding creeps into his features. “You thought I wanted to go back.”
“I… Don’t you?”
He sighs. “No, Georgia. No, I don’t want that. I especially don’t want that if it means we’re apart.”
“Oh.” Tears drip down my cheeks, and I can’t stop them.
Sebastian’s staring at the countertop, his lips pinched. “And Idefinitelydon’t want to go back to Clare if it means my daughter is paying for it. Jeez. A man has pride, Sweet Peach.”
I snort. “I noticed.”
His eyes narrow. “Careful. I’m feeling very tender right now. I don’t need you sassing me.”
We watch each other over the island until Sebastian shifts his weight. Slowly, like he’s afraid of me bolting again, he comes around to my side. When he’s beside me, I turn to face him. We don’t touch, we just stand inches apart and meet each other’s gaze.
“I didn’t ask you to marry me because I wanted to cart you off to Clare,” he says in a deep, rumbly voice.
“No?”
His hand comes to rest on my cheek, a touch that seems too gentle for such a big man. “No, baby. I asked you to marry me because I love you. And you know what, Georgia? I would burn that entire town to the ground for you. I’d buy that old house just to watch you trash it if it’s what you wanted. Hell, I’d buy you a gold-plated sledgehammer to do it with. Georgia, you are my life. I’ve never stopped loving you. Not for a second. It hurt—my love for you hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt, so I buried it deep, where I could pretend it didn’t exist. But it’s always been you—only you.” He leans his forehead against mine and takes a deep breath, his thumbs sweeping the tears off my cheeks. “You want to know what finally made Shelly ask me for a divorce?”
I make a small noise. It’s all I can manage right now.
He lets out a little puff of breath. “The ring. Your ring. She found it in my things after she’d told me to get rid of it. I should’ve done what she asked. A good husband would have. But that ring was the last thing I had of you, and I just couldn’t bring myself to let go. Even when I find your hair ties at my place, I end up keeping them like some demented crow. It’s sick. I’m sick with it, Georgia. I love you so much, nothing else makes any sense.” He clicks his tongue. “Stop crying, baby girl. Come on.”
