“What if I don’t want to let you go?”

There was a clatter and thump from upstairs, but for once Emily didn’t rush to investigate. She trusted Agnes, and anyway, her feet were glued to the floor. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He closed the door, giving them privacy. “I want to talk about us.”

Us.

Such a small, simple word to hold such deep significance. “There can’t be an us, Ryan.”

“There already is.” He crossed the room to her and took her face in his hands. “There’s been an ‘us’ from the first day you opened the door to me. There was an ‘us’ when you trusted me with your secret, when you asked me to teach you to swim, when you let me take you out in a boat and when you let me take you to bed. There was an ‘us’ when I came to the hospital, and when you told me you didn’t want me in your life. If there hadn’t been an ‘us,’ you wouldn’t have felt the need to say that.”

“I said it because Lizzy fell in love with you. I’m protecting her feelings.”

“And what about you?” His voice was soft, his gaze holding hers. “What about your feelings?”

“How I feel doesn’t matter. I can’t let it matter. There’s too much at stake.” She felt as if she were teetering on the edge of a crumbling cliff with everything secure about to disintegrate beneath her feet.

“Do you know what I think, Emily Donovan?” His voice was husky and warm. “I think you’re using Lizzy as an excuse. I think the reason you can’t let it matter isn’t because you’re afraid for Lizzy, but because you’re afraid for yourself. I think what’s at stake isn’t Lizzy’s heart, but your own. You’re scared. You’ve gone through life avoiding anything that threatens your emotions and that included picking men who wouldn’t make you feel deeply.”

She swallowed hard. “What does that say about me?”

“That you were scared. Love scares you, so you stayed in the shallow end of the relationship pool, picking guys who could never put your heart in danger. But I taught you to swim, Emily.” He ran his thumb gently over her cheek. “I taught you how to kick and stay afloat. I taught you what to do when a riptide grabs you. It’s important to make good decisions, but you don’t have to let fear hold you back, sweetheart.”

“Both. Loving Lizzy has been hard for you, and I think it’s scary for you to admit you love me, too.”

Her heart skipped a beat. The fact that he knew left her feeling raw and exposed, like a sea creature left stranded on the beach when the tide retreated. “Aren’t you a little sure of yourself?”