Page 158 of Beyond the Cottage

“I don’t know what to do about the repellent,” she said. “Or the money. He’ll take it away when he finds out we’re together.”

Ansel’s body went rigid. So did Gretta’s. Realizing what just came out of her mouth, she hid her face in his shirt.

He gripped her chin, lifting it. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Forget I said that.”

“No.The part about us being together—what did you mean?”

“I was thinking out loud.”

With a little growl, he let go of her and ran a hand over his face. He half-sat on the desk looking wrung out. “I think it’s time we had a frank, unambiguous conversation. Can we do that?”

His intensity set her nerves off. She’d never much cared for vulnerability, especially when the stakes were so high.

“What do you want, Gretta?”

Like a coward, she shrugged and glanced away.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll start. I don’t give a shit about the money. I was ready to light the draft on fire the day you put it in my hand.”

Her heart fluttered.

“What about the repellent?” she asked quietly.

He sighed, squeezing the back of his neck before dropping his hand. “I don’t know. If it wasn’t for your new job, I’d probably publish the formula and let someone else produce it.”

Gretta’s heart cracked. He thought she cared about her job more than him? Fighting witches had never been about employment, not really.

He calmly looked at her. “You need to understand that when I said I couldn’t be near you, it was self-preservation. Because I want to be more than colleagues or even friends.” He leaned in. “If it were up to me, we’d have married weeks ago.”

Gretta dropped into the chair. She felt dizzy, and her lungs weren’t working properly.

“If that’s too much, too soon, I apologize,” he said. “But it’s the truth, and it was time I said it.” He crouched at her feet, more intense than before. “I don’t expect you to know how you feel about that, but I need one question answered here and now.”

After a hard swallow, she said, “Alright.”

He closed his eyes as though steadying himself. When he opened them, his gaze met hers head on. “Gretta…is there the slightest chance you could someday love me a fraction as much as I love you?”

A shaky breath gusted out of her, and tears blurred her vision.

Same as when she’d kissed him on Isobel’s floor, she stood on a cliff’s edge, looking down, waiting to jump. Survival instinct made the height terrifying, but this time she knew the water was deep.

Was it better to stay grounded, trapped but safe? Or should she swim?

With the way her heart felt, did she really have a choice?

“Is there any chance at all, Gret?”

Only one word fit through her throat, and it came out a whisper. “Yes.”

He absorbed it slowly, like he didn’t speak her language. Then his face transformed. He got to his feet.

Bending, he shoved a hand in her pinned hair and kissed her. “Go home. Wait for me. I’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“What? Why?”

After closing the safe and swiveling the dial, he gave her another quick kiss and headed for the door.

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