“I want a timeline,” he said immediately. “I want a negotiation. We’ve both said things in moments of high emotion, and now I want to know what it means. You’re right. You do deserve someone who always puts you and the baby first, and I want the opportunity to apply for the position. If it were a matter of simply quitting my job, I would have already done so and moved across the country, but I have five coven members who depend on me. We’ve all suffered terrible injuries from the individual we’re hunting. They lost people they loved to him—a wife, a daughter, a fiancée, coworkers, parents—and I’m the one who convinced them to join me on this quest. I owe them something, Molly. I don’t think I’d be the kind of man you would want to be with if I just abandoned them.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding calmer. “I can see how important that is, and you’re right. I wouldn’t think much of anyone who could drop those obligations and run, so I understand why you wanted to talk.”

The pinched tension between his shoulders began to ease. “Thank you.”

She walked over to put a gentle hand on his back. “Look at us, sounding so reasonable.”

He spun to grasp her upper arms. The suddenness made her flinch. “Nothing about this is reasonable. The feelings I have for you aren’t normal. I’m obsessed with you. I can’t stop thinking about the way your skin tastes, the sound of your laugh, the way you face life with such fierce anticipation.”

Her lips shook. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”

“Thank God for that.” He passed a hand over her hair. “Because thoughts of you are interrupting my work, my decisions. I can’t sleep. Is this love? I don’t know. I’ve never been in love before. All I know is I’m ready to abandon almost everything just for the chance to be with you.”

“Josiah…”

“Don’t call me that,” he hissed.

“I have to call you something.” The pragmatic words were at odds with the way she touched his face. “I want to fling everything I’ve got at you, and if it were just me, I would do it and take my chances. But my life is not just about me anymore.”

“I know. I get it.” He caught himself up, then added more quietly, “Because my life isn’t just about me anymore either.”

“How much danger are you and the others in?” She searched his expression.