body and setting her on edge. “How can I work enough to feed my brother and sisters and get a degree at the same time?”
“There are options.”
“Theoretical options,” she argued. “But not real ones. Not ones that work in practice.”
He shook his head. “You’re frightened.”
“I’m not frightened. I simply know my limitations.”
“No, you’re frightened. You’re frightened of the future because it’s not defined by the clear boundaries you have now. You’re worried that if you aim for something and miss, then you’ll have wasted the opportunity, whereas sacrificing it all is safer because there’s no risk.”
“How dare you tell me how I feel.” Audrey balled her hands into fists. “And how dare you psychoanalyze me, Ronan. I’m not your test subject.”
“No, you’re not.” He raked a hand through his hair, sending a fine mist of water into the air around him. “You’re a person who deserves more than being a servant in her own house. You’re not Cinderella.”
“No, because Cinderella had to rely on other people to save her, and I am not doing that.”
“Is it so wrong that I want more for you? That I think you’re holding yourself back from achieving great things?” He came forward again, but she held her hand up, halting him. Touching him now would be a mistake.
Well, more of a mistake than she’d already made by thinking her relationship with Ronan wouldn’t go down in flames. Because the fire had already started, and there was no putting it out.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ronan wasn’t sure what to do—yes, he knew that Audrey thought it wasn’t possible for her to have it all. She’d created this divide between her and her dreams that didn’t allow for looking to the future or even considering what she could achieve. She didn’t believe that it was possible to care for her family and start working toward her dreams at the same time.
Audrey was at her best and brightest when she was learning. When she was sharing knowledge. Last night, when she’d gone over his chapter, pointing things out and giving him insights that he hadn’t seen coming…damn. She was magnificent.
Corny as it sounded, he was as much attracted to her brain as he was to her body.
But the second he even tried to talk about how things might be different, it was like a power switch flipped. The light in her eyes dimmed, and she became wooden. Remote.
She flat-out refused to even consider other options.
“I can’t ignore the reality of my situation,” she said, her olive-green eyes locked intently on him. She wasn’t shying away from this argument, but she wasn’t budging, either. “And it’s not your job to save me.”
“I don’t want to save you. But I do want you to see yourself as worthy and deserving, because you absolutely are.”
For a moment, she didn’t reply. He could see the thoughts swirling around in her head, her eyes flicking in a way that told him her brain was racing a million miles a minute.
“Talk to me, Audrey.” He sighed. “I’ve clearly overstepped, and I’m sorry. But I can’t apologize for wanting you to have everything life has to offer.”
“So it has nothing to do with how you feel about dating someone uneducated?”
She may as well have slapped him across the face for how much those words stung. He could practically feel the burning imprint on his cheek. After all the nights they’d shared, the vulnerable stories that had passed between them, the fact that Ronan finally let someone in…
“I can’t believe you asked me that,” he said, his voice rough with hurt. Five minutes ago, he would have said that Audrey knew him better than anyone. But the fact that she could even ask such an insulting thing made Ronan question everything.
Maybe she didn’t know him at all.
“What about the meet and greet?” Her lip trembled, but she drew her shoulders back as if reinforcing her inner strength.
“That I invited you?”
“No, that you lied to your colleague so I wouldn’t have to admit that I hadn’t finished high school.”
“God, Audrey. I already said I was sorry for that.” He threw his hands up in the air. “You looked uncomfortable, and I know that guy can be a real pain in the ass.”
“You basically hauled me out of there.” She shook her head. “And then I find out you’ve been requesting GED paperwork and making appointments on my behalf, after we’d already discussed why it’s not a good time for me now.”