Like him.
“But even with your yes,” he says softly, “that doesn't mean I'm ever gonna stop trying to show you how I feel.”
Emotion rises unexpectedly in my throat.
Because no one has ever said something like that to me.
Not really.
Not said it and meant it.
How could he possibly know?
How could he know I've spent most of my life waiting to be with someone who didn’t just see me as practical?
Responsible?
The dependable one?
The nice girl?
The woman who gets overlooked?
I swallow hard.
“Why would you do all that, Kai?”
His thumb brushes across my knuckles.
A simple touch.
Yet my pulse jumps.
“Because you deserve it.”
The answer is so immediate.
So sincere.
That something inside me melts.
Dangerously.
“Look,” I whisper, trying and failing to sound unaffected, “you don't have to do this. I mean... I think I know where I stand with you.”
His eyebrows rise.
“Yeah?”
“The wooing?”
My voice wobbles.
“Unnecessary.”
A slow smile curves his mouth.
“Fuck that.”