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She sighed, her shoulders rolling forward. “No, I’m not mad. I’m just . . . I’m tired.”

“All the more reason for you to stop doing dishes and come to bed—”

“I’m tired of this.”

Her words sliced through Blake like a sword, and he backed away, turning her to face him with a hand on her shoulder. “What do you mean? Of me? Of us?”

“No, Blake. I love you. I love us.” It was the first time she’d said the words in a month, and his heart sped up. “But I don’t want just a part of you. I want it all.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not seeing anyone else, I’ve been completely devoted to you.”

“I’m talking about your love. Do you love me, Blake?”

It was like he’d swallowed a meatball and it had lodged in his throat, making it impossible to speak and hard to draw breath.

“You can’t say it. Which tells me that we’ve known each other for a while, spent the last three months building something, and you’re still holding back from me. Keeping parts of yourself away because they already belong to someone else.”

Finally, he croaked, “Are we back to Jenny, again? She’s dead, Hannah. The only person here still obsessed with my wife is you.”

“Reall

y? Then why won’t you go back to Texas? Why won’t you go to the memorial unveiling?”

White-hot rage shot through him. “What, you’re going through my stuff now?”

“I saw it when I was in your bathroom, and I was curious. You can hate me for that later, but the question remains: If you are really ready to move on and be here, in this, with me, then why can’t you go say good-bye?”

“Because I said good-bye when I put her in the fucking ground!”

She jumped at his angry shout, and Milo started barking and growling, his hackles standing on end. Charge howled from the living room and came lumbering in, sniffing everyone, as if trying to detect where the problem was.

“I just . . . I think maybe we should take a break. Figure out what we both need and—”

Blake took her by the shoulders, wishing he could shake some sense into her. “I know what I need. I need your smile, and the way you talk to your stupid dog, and the curve of your cheek. I need the sweet sound of your voice. I need the way you say my name, and how you make my day better just by calling to check in.”

Her hazel eyes filled with tears, and his anger dissolved into fear. He cupped her cheeks, kissing her tears, her lips, panic taking over as he realized she was serious. She wanted to leave him.

“Please, Han. Don’t go. I need you.”

Hannah trembled in his arms, and he picked her up, carrying her from the kitchen. He just needed to show her. Show her how much she meant to him. How much he cared.

They reached the bedroom, and Blake set her down, afraid to stop touching her. Scared that if he let her go for a single second, she’d be gone.

He undressed in a frenzy, his clothes flying across the room as he kissed her. Loved her. He slid his hand beneath her skirt and pulled her panties down, needing to feel her around him.

Blake helped her sit up and pulled her dress over her head, his face buried in the pillow of her breasts as he kissed first one and then the other.

Blake grabbed a condom from the drawer, and once he was sheathed, he sought entrance in her warmth. Her arms wrapped around him, and she sighed, her hands caressing his shoulders lovingly. He couldn’t be gentle any longer. He was desperate. Desperate to make her see how much she meant to him. That what they had was special.

That he couldn’t survive without her.

Hannah’s cries broke through his thoughts, her voice rising with every thrust.

“Blake!”

“I need you, Hannah. God, I need you so much, baby.”

She shook under him, her orgasm squeezing him tight inside her, and he came, blood pounding in his ears as he shouted his satisfaction.