Page 53 of Craving You

“Because you were sitting here and damn near preening from all their praise every night! Did you honestly think they were just doing that when you were in our presence?”

“Um…”

“Nothing’s in my control!” she cried, her eyes brimming with tears. “Everyone’s trying to tell me what I should do and no one’s listening or even asking what I want!”

“That’s not true,” he carefully argued. “I’ve been asking you and you keep telling me you’re not ready or you want to hit pause or…”

“I know, I know…I swear I was ready to do all the talking and planning when we left Summit Ridge. But then…”

“Then your parents showed up.”

“Exactly.”

“They’re not here now, Hales. Tell me what you’re thinking. Tell me what you want and I swear I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen.”

“Why?” she asked as tears rolled down her face. “Why are you being so nice? I’ve been a total brat and completely irrational, and you’re still here. Why?”

Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands in his. “Because from the moment I met you, I was drawn to you,” he said gruffly. “I enjoyed talking with you and laughing with you, I’ve loved getting to know you. I hate how we missed out on a month where we could have spent time together and it wouldn’t have been nearly as awkward when you found out you were pregnant.” Swallowing hard, he stared at their hands. “But I’m still here because I believe there’s more to us than just a pregnancy.” Slowly, he caressed her hand and met her teary gaze. “I think there’s so much more to our story than this. If you’ll give us a chance, I promise you won’t regret it.”

And there it was. He had put it all out there with all the honesty he possessed.

“It’s a lot,” she whispered. “It’s a lot and…and…I’ve been hurt before. I don’t trust easily anymore.”

“And that’s okay,” he quietly assured her. “I’m not asking you to change who you are. I honestly like the person you are. I want to know the true you, Hailey…not some version that you think you should be. I want it all—the good and the bad.”

Her small laugh gave him a little bit of hope. “You say that now, but my family swears I can be a handful. Sloane tells me all the time that I exhaust her.”

“And your sister is a bit of a drama queen,” he said lightly. “At least, that’s the impression I got of her this week.”

Now she smiled. “I say that about her a lot. Everything she says is over-the-top and slightly exaggerated.”

“So maybe you’re not exhausting,” he said with a grin.

Her smile grew. “Maybe.”

With another nod, he felt like they were both a little more at ease. “Okay, so would you like to come upstairs and look at…”

His phone dinged with an incoming text and when he looked down at the screen, he saw it was from Patrick Donovan.

How is it that the rest of the Donovans were quick to respond and make things happen and I fall for the only one who can’t make a decision?

Patrick: Hey! Four houses are becoming available next week in Sweetbriar Ridge.

Patrick: I can get you an early exclusive on them before they go on the market.

Patrick: I’m going to email you the links. Look them over and let me know if you want to tour any of them. You can drive by them first so you can get a feel for the neighborhoods.

Patrick: And tell Hailey I said hello!

Max immediately switched over to his email and opened the links, fully aware that Hailey was watching him. He was excited to look at the details and maybe this would be a low-pressure way to introduce house hunting because he didn’t want to overwhelm her now that she seemed more relaxed.

“Hey,” she said quietly. “Is everything okay? Your face got all serious.”

“Um…yeah. It was…” But he stopped himself from saying anything. He could drive by the houses tomorrow. Standing, he slid his phone back into his pocket.

Raking a hand through his hair, he nodded. “I just got an email from Patrick. There are four houses that he thinks fit what I’m looking for and I was going to ask if you’d like to drive by them maybe after we look at the ones I saved. We can’t go in any of them, and I haven’t looked at any of the interior pictures, but I thought it might be nice to just look.”

“Oh, wow. That was fast. I didn’t think he’d be reaching out this quickly. I mean…we were just talking about it, so maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me I can’t keep pretending it’s not happening. Plus, we can’t keep living here, so…” She shrugged. “I guess we should go up to your apartment and see what you have and then do a few drive-bys and see what my cousin thinks is a good fit.”

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