Page 54 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

She wasn’t here. The longer he didn’t see her, the more acutely his insides twisted with guilt and shame.

He’d hurt her. He had known he was hurting her as he was doing it and why? Why would he do that to someone he cared about?

Because to say he loved her would be to give her the power to hurt him. Devastating power.

His gaze drifted to where his mother spoke with an old friend, one he had deliberately invited so she would have some friendly faces here. That woman was highly influential. Even Aunt Zara would hesitate to get on her wrong side. His mother was smiling, but he recognized the tension in her. She was braced for having to face his father’s family.

Nevertheless, she had come here for him. Because she loved him.

And he loved her. It had always been a very painful love, though. One filled with brief, happy reunions and too-soon goodbyes. It was the same with Eden. Love was always there, but it was rarelyhere.

Love was absence and pain. He was trying to spare Quinn. Didn’t she see that?

But the pain had arrived regardless. If she wasn’t with him, that’s all he would ever feel. Pain.

Quinn finally found it. She’d gone through all the suitcases, but she’d finally found her hoodie.

She sank to the floor, still in the bathrobe she’d worn to Eden’s room, and hugged the soft jersey to her chest. She hadn’t wanted to leave without it, but now that she had it in her arms, she didn’t know what to do.

That’s how Micah found her.

The door into the suite opened and he called urgently, “Quinn.”

He halted as he entered the bedroom, taking in the tossed suitcases.

He wore the shirt Yasmine had designed for him. Privately, he had told Quinn he wasn’t sure about the burgundy pinstripes with the white tab collar, thinking it too casual for today, especially without a jacket, but matched with the merlot-colored tie and tie clip, he looked as polished as usual, with a bit more flair.

He crouched before her, brows pulled in anguish. “What are you doing?”

“I’m really tired of leaving without the things I love.” Her eyes were dry, but stinging from all the tears she had shed. Her voice was hoarse. “Look. This has my name on it.” She turned it over. “It’s from my third year at university. My shoulder was bothering me so I asked the rowing team if I could dry-land-train with them. I knew my shoulder wasn’t strong enough to row and compete, but they asked me to be their coxswain. We won a regatta, then everyone went their own ways, but I had this to prove that for that little while I belonged to something. I was wanted. Needed even.”

“You’re always wanted, Quinn.” He shifted to sit, one knee bent, the other cocked. “I want you. Always. I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about you. I wantyou. I need you. Do you understand that?”

She balled the hoodie in her lap, stomach churning with chagrin.

“Micah, I think I agreed to marry you because I wanted to be part of your family. I wanted to be Eden’s sister-in-law and Lucille’s daughter-in-law and finally be part of that.”

“Youarepart of our family. I don’t understand how you don’t know how important you are to us. Tome. Quinn, listen to me.”

He shifted closer so he could take her hand. That’s when he noticed her engagement ring was gone. He sucked in a breath and cradled her fist as though it was broken.

“If you don’t want to marry me, Quinn, that’s fine. It’s fine. We can get past that, but don’t leave me, Quinn. You can’t...” An agonized flinch flexed across his expression. “I can’t keep saying goodbye to the people I love.”

She gasped and tried to take back her hand, but he held on.

“I tried not to love you because I knew that if you ever walked away—and you always walk away, Quinn...” His voice shook with accusation while his brows crashed down. His hand closed over hers, not hard, but squeezing enough to transmit his agony. “I knew if you left me for good, it would be more than I could take. So I tried not to love you. I tried to let it be what you seemed to want because at least I understood that kind of relationship. But Idolove you, Quinn. It scares the hell out of me how much I love you.”

“You don’t have to keep saying it if—”

“Don’t you dare throw it back on me. You wanted this, Quinn. Now you take it, same as I have to. We love each other. We have to watch the other person hold our heart and it’s going to hurt. Loving hurts. It makes you vulnerable and when they hurt, you hurt. When they’re lying in a hospital bed, you wonder if you’ll have any reason to live tomorrow. But when they’re happy...” He lifted his gaze from where he was abrading the back of her hand with the restless rub of his thumb. “When you are happy, Quinn, I don’t need air or water. I want you with me and I want to see you smile. Is that too much to ask?”

She wasn’t smiling right now. Tears were running down her cheeks as she reached toward something she wanted so badly, she didn’t know if she would topple or finally touch it.

“I’m really scared, Micah. I love youso much. I wanted to leave, but I wanted my sweater. Then when I found it...” She looked down at it in her lap. “It’s not enough anymore, to only have a memory of belonging once. I want to really belong. Forever. I want to belong with you.” It shook her very foundations to ask for that.

“You do,” he promised solemnly. “We belong together whether we marry or not. I think that’s been true for a very long time.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, sagging with relief. She let the last of her defenses fall and tried to find a smile, but her lips were still quivery. “I just didn’t know what it looked like to belong with someone, so I didn’t recognize it when it happened.”

---