you’re looking at the likes of me.” She gestured to her grimy coveralls. “You could do a damn sight better.”
His gaze found hers and locked on. “That’s just it. I’ve dated plenty. But I haven’t given my heart, or didn’t ye notice? I was beginning to think maybe I wasn’t meant for the long term, and I’ve been finding myself thinking that it’ll be a lonely life for me indeed if that’s the case. In fact, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He was a charming rogue, for certain, and every lass in a hundred kilometers likely knew his name. Or wanted to. She’d never once thought what he was thinking, how he felt, assuming he was happy, romping through the field of available women.
He toyed once again with the buttons, and as she watched the uncertainty fill his beautiful eyes, her heart melted further. Something she hadn’t thought possible. “You’re not destined to be alone, Brodie,” she said softly. “I can’t imagine such a fate for you. You’re the heart of this village. You thrive on people, on being around those who mean so much to you. You’d shrivel up without the fervor and hubbub of life around you.”
“And yet ... Have you ever felt alone in a room full of people, Kat?”
The quietly asked question caught her off guard. “I—” She paused, thinking how often she’d felt that way when looking at other couples, wondering what it was that had given them the impetus to come together, and stay together. And why that magic forever seemed to elude her. “Aye,” she said softly. “Indeed I have.”
He tipped her chin up. “I don’t feel like that when I’m with you.”
Her heart skipped a full beat, then resumed beating in double time. “I—I ... neither do I.” It was the God’s honest truth if ever there was one. But so was this. “Being friends, Brodie, isn’t the same as being lovers. I couldn’t bear it if—”
“That’s just it, Kat. I think I kept you in this special place in my heart, separate from all the playing and fooling around, because, to my mind, you were above all of that. Better than all of that. And I think now it was because I knew that fun was fun, but I’d never managed to find a way to make it more than that. Every relationship I’ve had has been disposable. Except this one. So I couldn’t see you like that. Do you understand? I didn’t. But I do now. And I want more. I want it all. And if you don’t think that terrifies me, too, then you’re daft. But the thing is, I trust you. If I’m ever to make this work, I can’t imagine it with anyone but you.”
He was looking at her with such earnest sincerity ... and an intense desire that couldn’t be feigned. It was enough to shake her right down to her toes. She’d come into this wanting to get his attention. Well, she’d gotten it, all right. But she hadn’t expected that he might actually fancy himself in love with her. In the way she knew she was with him.
“And ye see me that way now? Truly?” She kept pushing, needing to be absolutely certain before taking another single step. “Because of something Daisy said? Or because I wore a dress? Because that wasn’t me, Brodie, that was me being stupid and insecure and thinking that I’d do almost anything to get your attention. And now you want my hair down and I’m thinking I’m no’ the woman you—” She broke off when he burst out laughing.
“You keep talking about yourself as if you’re not desirable. Don’t you understand? It’s no’ just the hair, or the clothes, that make the woman. In fact, it’s almost everything else that does.”
“That’s friendship, Brodie. I need to know that you—”
“Desire you?” He took the edges of her coveralls and yanked her to him. “Want you?” Pushing her back against the billiard table, he pressed the full length of his body against hers. “You mean like this?”
And, without wasting another breath, or even asking her if
His gaze found hers and locked on. “That’s just it. I’ve dated plenty. But I haven’t given my heart, or didn’t ye notice? I was beginning to think maybe I wasn’t meant for the long term, and I’ve been finding myself thinking that it’ll be a lonely life for me indeed if that’s the case. In fact, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He was a charming rogue, for certain, and every lass in a hundred kilometers likely knew his name. Or wanted to. She’d never once thought what he was thinking, how he felt, assuming he was happy, romping through the field of available women.
He toyed once again with the buttons, and as she watched the uncertainty fill his beautiful eyes, her heart melted further. Something she hadn’t thought possible. “You’re not destined to be alone, Brodie,” she said softly. “I can’t imagine such a fate for you. You’re the heart of this village. You thrive on people, on being around those who mean so much to you. You’d shrivel up without the fervor and hubbub of life around you.”
“And yet ... Have you ever felt alone in a room full of people, Kat?”
The quietly asked question caught her off guard. “I—” She paused, thinking how often she’d felt that way when looking at other couples, wondering what it was that had given them the impetus to come together, and stay together. And why that magic forever seemed to elude her. “Aye,” she said softly. “Indeed I have.”
He tipped her chin up. “I don’t feel like that when I’m with you.”
Her heart skipped a full beat, then resumed beating in double time. “I—I ... neither do I.” It was the God’s honest truth if ever there was one. But so was this. “Being friends, Brodie, isn’t the same as being lovers. I couldn’t bear it if—”
“That’s just it, Kat. I think I kept you in this special place in my heart, separate from all the playing and fooling around, because, to my mind, you were above all of that. Better than all of that. And I think now it was because I knew that fun was fun, but I’d never managed to find a way to make it more than that. Every relationship I’ve had has been disposable. Except this one. So I couldn’t see you like that. Do you understand? I didn’t. But I do now. And I want more. I want it all. And if you don’t think that terrifies me, too, then you’re daft. But the thing is, I trust you. If I’m ever to make this work, I can’t imagine it with anyone but you.”
He was looking at her with such earnest sincerity ... and an intense desire that couldn’t be feigned. It was enough to shake her right down to her toes. She’d come into this wanting to get his attention. Well, she’d gotten it, all right. But she hadn’t expected that he might actually fancy himself in love with her. In the way she knew she was with him.
“And ye see me that way now? Truly?” She kept pushing, needing to be absolutely certain before taking another single step. “Because of something Daisy said? Or because I wore a dress? Because that wasn’t me, Brodie, that was me being stupid and insecure and thinking that I’d do almost anything to get your attention. And now you want my hair down and I’m thinking I’m no’ the woman you—” She broke off when he burst out laughing.
“You keep talking about yourself as if you’re not desirable. Don’t you understand? It’s no’ just the hair, or the clothes, that make the woman. In fact, it’s almost everything else that does.”
“That’s friendship, Brodie. I need to know that you—”
“Desire you?” He took the edges of her coveralls and yanked her to him. “Want you?” Pushing her back against the billiard table, he pressed the full length of his body against hers. “You mean like this?”
And, without wasting another breath, or even asking her if
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