A few weeks later, I stood in Levi’s kitchen and glanced over to where he sat at the kitchen table with Ham sitting on his shoulder. He did this with Ham often, feeding him little bits of lettuce and carrots. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I bit back the urge to laugh.

It was ridiculous really. Levi—hotshot firefighter, sexy as hell, tough as hell, and too handsome for his own good—carefully offering snacks to a small brown and white hamster. Snagging my phone off the counter, I quickly snapped a photo.

“I’m sending that to Maisie,” I offered with a grin.

He chuckled. “So?”

“She can share with your crew. You look ridiculous, you know.”

He shrugged, entirely unabashed. “Ham likes to get his snacks this way.”

“I know.” My heart suddenly felt full. Restless, I spun away, emotion hitting me in waves. These little episodes, where I felt caught in a riptide of emotion, had been happening a lot lately. I didn’t quite know what to do with any of it.

I might’ve been able to admit that I loved Levi, but I wasn’t used to this. For my whole life, I’d been fending for myself one way or another. Now, here I was still at Levi’s, still trying to figure out what to do next.

I spoke over my shoulder. “I think I found a place to rent,” I said.

The moment I spoke, my heart did that funny little tumble. Relieved there were a few dishes in the sink, I turned on the water and started washing them.

After a beat, he spoke. “Come here.”

I turned the water off and dried my hands on the dishtowel before turning to face Levi. He lifted Ham off of his shoulder and carefully set him on the floor. Beckoning me with his hand, his eyes held mine. Since I couldn’t have willed my body not to respond even if I wanted to, I was crossing the room to him before I even thought about it. When I reached him, he took the towel out of my hand and set it on the table, tugging me between his knees.

His gaze was somber and intent. In a flash, the air was shimmering with the electricity and intimacy that simply existed between us. It was its own force, one that could not be denied.

He hooked a finger in one of my belt loops. I was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He lifted his other hand and traced my brow, his fingertip trailing down along my cheek.

His touch was like a blaze of fire on my skin. Emotion welled inside of me again, and he hadn’t said another word yet.

“What?” I asked, my voice thick. Tears wicked up from the knot of emotion in my throat, and I couldn’t will them away. I felt the heat of a tear rolling down my cheek and his thumb brushing it away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his tone gruff.

I shook my head sharply. “I don’t know. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Wiping the next tear that fell with his thumb, his gaze never wavered. “I understand why you might want to have your own place, but…” He paused, taking a deep breath. “You’re it for me. I’ll be patient if I have to, but I wish you would stay here.”

I stared at him, my heart beating wildly and the achy feeling easing inside. Wordlessly, I nodded. I took a deep breath, the tension bundled inside starting to loosen. I was stubborn, really stubborn, and I knew it. I thought back to a comment Amelia had made the other day. I’d said something to the effect that it had been easy for her to decide Cade was the one because he’d always been the one for her, and there was no compromise.

She’d eyed me and shook her head. “There’s always a compromise. I think you’ve forgotten how proud and stubborn I can be. I had to let go of a lot of anger. It didn’t matter whether it was rational or not. It’s always easier to be alone. Because then you don’t have to be vulnerable, you don’t have to put your own heart on the line.”

I’d turned her words over in my mind like a worry stone, again and again, evaluating them from every angle. In the end, she was right, and I knew it.

So I stared at Levi, realizing he was putting his heart on the line for me, and I wasn’t doing the same. Oh, I loved him, and I wanted him. Yet, I was clinging to making decisions that were all about me, while hedging my bets on us.

On the heels of another deep breath, I reached up to brush a lock of his hair away from his forehead, that tawny golden hair that I loved so.

“Okay, I’ll stay,” I said softly, my heart beating wildly and soaring.

His smile was like the sun coming out behind the clouds. He dropped his hand from my cheek. With his chin just about level with mine, he angled his head and dropped a kiss on my neck.

“Oh thank God. I didn’t want to beg,” he said with a low laugh.