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Graham inched forward as if he might reach out to touch her, but his hands simply shifted forward on his thighs, gripping his knees.
Claire swallowed. “I’m loud and outgoing but I don’t have the lifestyle to back it up and no one knows what to do with me. Not even myself, sometimes.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. “Are we back to the whole ‘I’m not adventurous’ thing? You better not have changed that answer on your profile, by the way.”
She totally had.
“Just because you’re not into extreme sports doesn’t mean you’re not adventurous. There’s more than one way to meet that definition.”
“What do you mean?”
“You do tons of shit I never would have if it weren’t for you. You’re always trying new foods, no matter what it is or where it came from. Remember the durian you picked up from the Asian restaurant? I thought I was gonna have to stay at Noah’s the night you brought that home.”
“Come on, it’s a fruit that smells like rancid garbage but tastes sweet! How fascinating is that?”
“I have not, and will not, put something that smells like that in my mouth.” He pointed at her. “In that, you’re a hell of a lot more adventurous than me. And what about studying abroad for an entire summer? It takes a lot of guts to travel across the world by yourself and live in a city where you don’t know a single person. Very few people would do that, Claire.”
She blinked, taken aback. “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that.”
“Well, start. You’re more adventurous than you think. You don’t give yourself enough credit. And while I respect your reasons for staying away from high-risk hobbies, I think you might be surprised how much you’d like a few of them if you ever tried. Like rock climbing.” He grinned. “I mean, shit, you’d take it personally if you didn’t make it to the top on the first try. You’d call the rocks ‘bitches’ and rig up to try again, determined not to let a slab of granite best the badass that is Claire Harper.”
A laugh bubbled up. “I totally would.”
“See? You don’t see yourself the way other people do.”
That wasn’t so easy to agree with.
“Claire, tons of people are unmarried at thirty-one. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Millions, probably. It’s not always easy to find that person you’re meant to be with. Not everyone grew up next door to the love of their life like Mia and Noah. And even for those two, it took a ridiculously long time for them to figure their shit out.”
He had a point.
“Not finding your soulmate by now doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you. Because believe me, there’s not.” Something in the way he said that made her stomach flip. “It just means the right guy hasn’t found you yet. And I can guarantee he’s looking.”
Something inside her chest melted, which made her suspicious. “You’re being really sweet,” she accused. “And we’re fully clothed.”
He sat in the wooden rocking chair, legs splayed and palms on his thighs. When he lifted one hand to run his fingers through his hair in a move that somehow seemed deceptively lazy, Claire’s gaze snagged on his rippling forearm. “I don’t know why you sound so surprised. Sweet is my default setting.”
How was he so sexy all the time? “More like sarcastic and foul-mouthed, but okay.”
“You didn’t seem to mind the other night.”
“I did not.”
His lids lowered a little as he watched her, their words hanging in the air. A low simmer of heat seemed to constantly burn beneath the surface when they were together, and the temperature rose by several degrees every day.
“Is this too weird?” she blurted out.
He arched a brow.
“Talking to you about my dating life while we’re...you know.”
“Nah. I knew what was up going into this. You want commitment and someone to share your deepest, darkest everythings with, and vice versa. That’s not what I have to offer and I don’t blame you for still wanting to find it.” He shifted in his chair. “Is it weird for you?”
“It might be if I actually like this guy.”
Graham glanced away for a beat. “Well, if that happens we stop what we’re doing. I’m fine with it to a point, but the second you’d rather be in another man’s bed instead of mine, we’re done here.”
His tone stung, but she tried not to let it get to her. “I understand.”
