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Her ads for him ran as deeply as his did for her The difference was, he refused to run away

"I's are?"

She breathed in deep and he felt the tre her body "A little of both, I suppose"

He narrowed his gaze, not surprised and yet confused at the sa faood or bad You can't possibly be afraid of falling in love"

Love? Not yet, but the possibility wasn't completely incomprehensible Still, he couldn't believe he'd said the word out loud

Neither could she Her eyes opened wide, but to her credit, she held on to her composure as she tried to explain "I'm thirty and I've never fallen in love Never said the words to a man asn't a family member I've watched my parents live the e since accepted that it isn't going to happen for me And it definitely can't happen between two people as different as us"

Well, he'd asked Now he knew And his stohtly she held on to her notions

"Differences aren't always a bad thing," he rehed "You're determined to make this difficult, aren't you?"

"Not at all" He reached out and stroked her cheek "You're scared of feelings you never thought you'd have Join the club, sweetheart I'm thirty and I've never been in love Never said the words or even thought I'd fallen hard" And he wouldn't say the we do have in colanced down at the comforter "My life is at a crossroads Surely you see that I' at home My business, which doesn't even have a na and I've already had to put it on hold to come up here"

"To be with Sa for her and she's not even your flesh and blood Co for her here and you're ives ourselves enough credit"

"So isn't it great that we've got each other cheering us on? You know you're the first woman I've ever knoho's truly an individual You have drive, direction— "

"Ryan, don't" She shook her head and didn't aze "I need to resettle before I can consider myself a part of a couple or even seriously consider a relationship"

He nodded in understanding, telling himself she hadn't completely closed herself off to the notion of theave him time to confront her fears and find solutions He needed to be able to deal with each point on a rational level or he'd never change her in to conte him out

But this time he wasn't unnerved by her need to pull away because he understood now that she was scared Scared of how an ee her life and threaten the freedom she held so dear

He'd just have to take her fears as a challenge to overcoe chair by the pool at Ryan's parents' house She couldn't say she was co beneath an u and whispering She felt like a pariah at a party

But then she'd turned and looked at Ryan, who lay beside her in swi trunks, and decided life could be ry gaze and she devoured hilasses

Only she knew she'd spent the night in his bed He'dtheir intense conversation and ain thisEach time he'd come inside her, he'd shuddered and whispered her name, soft and low in her ear He'd made her insides turn to hs so she could clasp his and felt that sensitive spot tingle and shoot desire straight to her core

As a distraction, she tried to focus on the afternoon sun, which beat down hard, but her ht What he was co to mean to her, and her to him And why she needed to back off

Zoe shivered despite the hot sun She grabbed for the sunscreen and slathered lotion on her ar her, too