so different.”
This argument he could overcome. “We’re not.” He took both of her hands in his. “We both need to be in control. We both have a tendency to emotionally shut down.”
She made a face. “We sound like quite a pair.”
He shot back with a smile. “We really are.”
“We had great sex.”
He knew a last gasp when he heard it. Rather than get angry or take the bait, he pushed what he wanted one more time. “I’m not denying that. We’re on fire in bed. Out of bed we were starting to build something.”
She squeezed his hands. “Until I disappointed you.”
“Nat, baby.” With a gentle tug he pulled her in closer. His hands went to the small of her back. Anything to touch her, to feel the comfort of her skin and smell her shampoo. “We are going to disappoint each other, grate on each other, fight each other.”
“You’re not selling this very well.” But she looked as if she were biting back a smile.
He took that as a good sign. “But I am not going to leave you.”
She blinked a few times as her head pulled back. “What?”
“When it comes to family, you haven’t experienced much in the way of calm and staying power. I can give you both.” He brushed his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe whatever fears she had left, and he sensed this was one she kept buried deep. “I was a dad at eighteen and managed to get Brandon through school without any of the big problems.”
“Like?”
“Jail, drug rehab or fatherhood.” The trifecta of terrifying for parents.
“That’s quite a list.”
“But if one of those would have happened, I wouldn’t have given up on him. I don’t hit. I don’t cut and run. I don’t give up on people I care about.” He willed her to understand, to see how big of a promise he was making to her. “Not when I fall as hard as I did with you.”
“Fall?” Her shoulders relaxed then and her body eased against his.
He didn’t require even a second to think this part through. His need for her never strayed far from his mind. “Hard and fast. Even back at the very beginning when you pushed me away and called me names.”
She hesitated for a second as she gnawed on her bottom lip. Finally she said the words. “A defense mechanism.”
The last of the tension spiraling inside him vanished. “Not a very successful one since it just made me want you more.”
“That’s kind of sad.”
“I’m not denying that either.”
“I know the right answer is that I should have stayed out of your private life and let you figure it all out in your own time. But, honestly, that’s not my personality.” She skimmed her hands up and down his forearms. “Not that it excuses me sneaking around your house, picking up DNA.”
The words still filled him with a twinge of frustration, but he needed her to know nothing about their relationship—and that’s what it was—would be once and done. Some issues would take time and nurturing. Sometimes she’d need to be patient and let him come around. “Making a go of us means talking stuff through.”
“I tried.”
“We should probably give each other more than one shot before we throw up our hands and give up.”
She placed two fingers against his lips and rested her forehead against his. “You’re right.”
“Then don’t leave me.” The harsh whisper tore out of him.
She lifted her head and her gaze traveled over his face. “Gabe.”
“Any chance you’re falling for me, too?” He had to know hope at least lingered there. He didn’t need much to keep the spark going, but he could not do this alone.
Her hands traveled the whole way up to his shoulders. “Yes.”
He didn’t dare jump in. Not when he could have heard her wrong or might have misunderstood. “Say it.”
“I am falling for you.” Her fingers played at the base of his neck. Slipped into his hair. “Already have.”
Every word freed him. They washed over him like a cleansing shower, drowning out the doubts and pain. But he sensed she held something back. “And?”
“It scares the crap out of me.”
He didn’t fight off the lightness flowing through him now, because that made two of them. “Trust comes hard to both of us, but I do trust you.”
She winced. “Even after the DNA test.”
This time Gabe didn’t hesitate. He understood why she did it, that she was the type of person who would do it because she solved