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The words brought her up short, and she whirled around and faced him. Her body ached. From the fight last night. From making love. From the idea that they might never be together again.

Regan had warned her. Why hadn’t she listened?

She swallowed. Tried to think of what to say. Her eyes felt hot and tight, and she so wasn’t going to cry again.

She licked her lips.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I know you don’t feel the same. But I wanted you to know.” He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “I won’t be a nuisance. Once Lulu has gone, I’ll be moving overseas. I’ll be out of your life. You won’t need to see me again.”

That was exactly what she’d intended. To never see him again. But now, the very idea sent pain stabbing through her. She cleared her throat, forced the words out of her dry throat. “That’s good. I know it’s what you wanted.” He’d always been very clear that he wasn’t a long-term relationship sort of guy.

“And you can go back to fighting,” he said. “What you do best.”

She didn’t disabuse him of the idea. “I can. And I won’t have to explain the bruises to Lulu.”

“It’s all working out.”

He stood up, grabbed his pants from the floor, and pulled them on. He shook his head. “I never expected to say ‘I love you’ to anyone. So I probably fucked it up.” Shrugging, he bent down and picked up his shirt. “But as I said—you needed to know. I’m sorry my brother messed up your life.” He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his socks and shoes. Then he rose to his feet and crossed to where she stood. Her heart hurt. And she had no words, or none that would make things any better, so she stood speechless as he cupped her face in his palm. “You’re a good person, Darcy Butler. And I’m glad I met you.”

Then his hand dropped to his side, and he turned around and walked away.

She didn’t move until she heard the slam of the front door. Then she collapsed to the floor. Hugging her knees to her chest, she waited for the pain to subside. It was so familiar. She remembered it well from when her parents had died. Her sister. When she’d known she had to let Lulu go. But it didn’t go away, just ate into her, leaving a raw, empty place inside.

She didn’t love him. She wouldn’t allow herself to love him.

Because she lost everyone that she loved, and she didn’t think she could take one more blow.

She didn’t love him, and yet here she was, broken and alone.

She had no clue how long she sat huddled on the floor as the room went dark around her. Finally, she took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet. And started the process of putting herself back together. Again.