She moved toward the bed without answering his question. Instead, she yanked his shirt over her head, grabbing a clean one from a drawer. “Here. This is yours.”
“You can keep the shirt.” His tone said he wasn’t just talking about the shirt.
“No. I can’t.”
“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’m still waiting for my answer.”
“You want to talk about this now?”
“Why not? We’ve already waited ten years. If we’re going to try for forever, forever might as well start right now.”
“I’m not ready.”
He grimaced. “This isn’t something you analyze, Dani. You go with your gut on this one. If you trust me, then you make the gamble. On us.”
“Tell me what you want from me,” she said coolly. “Give it to me straight up.”
“Sex. A commitment. Everything and anything. I want us to be an us. A couple.”
“I can’t do that right now.” She chewed on her lower lip, undecided, staring at his familiar face yet wondering when he’d changed. When he’d become this stranger who thought he wanted to share forever with her.
“Why not? Because you need time to think? Why can’t you trust me?” His fingers flexed on his thighs. He’d put on his jeans while she’d been speaking to Rick, and the tight, worn denim always got her thinking about sex. Sex with this man.
“Take a chance. Gamble.” He shot her a warm smile, but his fingers were busy doing up his boots. He was getting ready to leave, she realized. “You can’t spend the rest of your life only taking on the sure things, and I want a second chance.”
She wanted that chance. She knew she did. Anything could happen eventually, given enough chances. Not necessarily tomorrow, not even quickly, but eventually. Sooner or later, monkeys randomly pounding on keys would accidentally type out Hamlet. The problem was, that kind of miracle took time. Lots and lots of time.
“I can’t,” she said, and her Mr. All Wrong walked out the door.
18
“BACK ALREADY?” TAG didn’t lift his eyes from the laptop that was sitting open before him when Daeg slammed into the Deep Dive’s command center. Tag had a look of intense concentration on his face as he scrutinized a topographical map of the ocean floor. The map likely meant trouble was brewing, but Daeg had enough of his own.
“Miss me?” He wanted to shout, jump on his bike and ride into the wind, do something to take away the tension, but that wouldn’t solve his problem. The fifteen miles of road between him and the woman he loved wasn’t the issue. No, it was their insurmountable differences when it came to taking a chance on life. He wanted to jump in with both feet.
And she didn’t.
He dropped into the chair opposite Tag and propped his feet up on the desk. His thigh protested the move, but he wasn’t in the mood to hear complaints. His body was the one thing he could control right now.
“Your CO called.” Tag nudged a scrap of paper toward him. “I believe he’d like to know whether or not he can count on your coming back to base.”
Daeg pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Yeah. That was a good question.
Tag shoved the laptop aside. “You got an answer for the man?”
“No.”
“No, you’re not re-upping?”
“No, I haven’t decided.” Except that maybe he had when he’d told Dani he wanted more than a few weeks with her.
“Indecisive much?” Tag’s cheeky drawl was annoying. Maybe Daeg could take his frustrations out on his friend.
Daeg glared and ignored the urge to rub his thigh. He’d figure out what he wanted. He would. And he would not think about how good Dani had looked naked in his arms. Since that had been a very, very good look for her.
“I’m working on it.”
“Uh-huh.” During the ensuing pause, Daeg could practically see Tag’s fingers itching to haul the laptop back. He appreciated the gesture, though. He really did. In his case, misery did love company. “Are you still thinking about joining Deep Dive?”
“I’m already involved,” he felt compelled to point out. He had a financial stake in the place, not that he’d ever intended to cash in.
“Money, mostly.” Tag shrugged. “We want you here. I think we’ve made that clear. I was hoping that Dani might change your mind about sticking around.”