“Fantasizing about my toes, are you?” She gave him an impish smile. “I can’t decide if that’s weird or hot.”
“Go with hot. But if I start touching you now, dinner will show up right when things are getting hot and heavy.” He set her feet down and sat up. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Total cop-out. The delivery dude would probably love it,” she joked. “A drink sounds great.”
He walked into the small kitchen and opened the fridge. “I’ve got some fancy ginger beer, water, milk”—he hesitated—“no alcohol. Do you want me to run and grab some wine?”
“Blake,” her tone gentle, “I’m absolutely capable of not drinking alcohol. It’s actually rarer when I do have a beer in my hand. This week I was in party mode. It’s my vacation.”
A hot flush started at his neck, and he nodded. Of course he’d just made things weird. It was still something he struggled with. His masculine image and career, and yet he refused to have a beer. Any kind of alcohol. And a lot of the guys—and women—judged him for it. But, then, they didn’t know the reasoning behind it.
“Sorry.” He forced the word out on a sigh. “I didn’t mean—”
“You don’t owe me an explanation.” She climbed off the couch and followed him into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his back. “Or an apology.”
Blake closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. Just the feel of her soft body pressed against him had the muscles in his body relaxing.
“I’ll take a ginger beer. Which, you know, for the longest time, I thought ginger beer had alcohol in it. I mean, duh, the name,” she murmured conversationally and pulled away. “I actually yelled at a pregnant cousin when she ordered one.”
God she was so sweet. So honest and adorable.
The urge to tell her everything rose up in his throat.
She deserved to know.
But, God, did he want to rip off that scab?
Don’t say it.
He turned around and set his hands on her hips, staring down at her. Searching her gaze. So torn.
“Blake? What is it?” She touched his cheek. “You can tell me.”
He tried to swallow the words back down, but they came up like rising bile.
“Almost a decade ago, I was in a pretty bad accident. And I…I was the only one who survived.”