"No?"
"No, I'm not discussing particulars on that topic with you. You're the one who pointed out you never asked me."
"Fair enough."
"What does that mean?"
"I'll respect your wishes not to talk about it until if, and when, I ask."
"I'm not a fifteenth century damsel. If I want to get married, I could ask you."
"Are you going to?" he asked, humor lacing his tone.
"No."
"Then we will have to agree that the discussion in question will happen on my timetable."
"That's not what I said." Even as she argued, her heart was beating a rapid tattoo in her chest.
Was Tor saying he planned to ask her to marry him? Even after a year apart? Did she want him to? Funny that he had not even paused when she said she would not be asking him.
A less confident man would take that to mean she didn't want to marry him.
Like he had last year. But Tor wasn't making those sort of assumptions now.
Oh no, now he was all, when and if he asked.
"I missed you this year." No more hiding.
"I refused to think about you."
"That is kind of scary." That he could just shut her out like she didn't matter.
"I still missed you."
"Oh." She turned her head to nuzzle the hand at her nape. "I'm glad."
"Not nice."
"You would be bored with nice."
"Perhaps. You do not bore me." He tugged her until she was straddling his lap, her Yoga pants and his trousers no barrier to the heat between them. "I do not think I bore you either."
"Not a chance."
He reached around, both hands pressing on her bottom, kneading her curves. "I thought you did not want me anymore."
"We'd just made love. How does that make sense?" But she'd struggled too. Struggled with how easily he'd walked away. "You didn't fight; you just walked away."
"I was hurt."
"And you did not want me to see you hurt."
"Naturally not."
Maybe if he loved her, it would have been different. She'd wanted to talk about the breakup with Janice and lay the whole blasted relationship bare for the sister of Blythe's heart.
Only by the time Blythe had worked up the nerve, Janice was going through the worst experience of her life and needed support, not someone leaning on her.