“This seems to be working pretty well.” He took her hand into his, traced over the lines on her palm, then laced their fingers and gave a tight squeeze. “Let’s try another. Tell me you love me as much as I love you.”
Darby wanted to believe him. Really she did. After all, his eyes shone with sincerity. His palm felt clammy next to hers, as if he was nervous as he waited for her answer.
She sighed, pulled her hand from his. “You know how I feel about you, Blake.”
“Do I?”
“I told you.”
“What exactly did you tell me, Darby?”
“That my heart has always belonged to you.”
“And then you gave me that plastic model heart.” He shook his head. “I was stupid, Darby. Utterly stupid. I thought you meant the model, but you didn’t, did you?”
Panic seized her, making her feel the need to protect herself. “I did give you the model, Blake.”
“But you’d given me your heart a long time before that, hadn’t you? That’s why you stayed in Knoxville to begin with? Because I was there?”
She rolled her eyes at him, turned to look out over the lake. “You’re so conceited.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You’re lying.”
Through her teeth.
“Maybe,” she conceded.
“I stayed in Knoxville because of you, too, Darby. I stayed because I wanted to be with you even before I knew that was what I wanted.”
Her head jerked toward him. “Huh?”
“Even though you and I weren’t a couple, I felt closer to you than to any woman I’d ever known. When I was with you I felt as if I belonged, as if I’d come home. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge the attraction I felt for you, because quite frankly you scared the hell out of me, but I wasn’t ready to walk away from you either.”
“You let me walk away.”
“I was an idiot.”
Emotions doing jumping jacks inside her chest, Darby leaned her head against her knees, stared out at the water, scared to believe him. “So where does this leave us?”
“It leaves me madly in love with the woman I’ve come to convince to give me a second chance.”
“Blake, you don’t have to say things like this just because I’m pregnant.”
“I’m not saying anything I don’t fully believe.”
“You believe you’re in love with me?”
“I am in love with you.”
She shook her head, thinking this was too much to take in. “You’re just in shock from the changes at work. From the fact that I walked away from our business. From the fact that our weekend together resulted in my getting pregnant. That’s all this is about, Blake. You miss practicing with me.”
“I do miss practicing with you, but there are certainly things I miss more about you than our working together.”
“Like?” she couldn’t resist asking.