He spun in a slow circle and scowled at the ceiling.

Well, no. To me, it’d been real… or became real.

“You married me to help me, Kane. If you want out, all you have to do is say so.” I’d figure the rest out. Hell, I could go back to teaching, or once I got access to my monthly stipend, live off that. That wouldn’t be hard and then I could go anywhere.

He turned to me, chest heaving, and since it was bare, it was a glorious sight. “I’m not going back to Ava, Emmersyn.”

Well, maybe he wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean I just had to sit back and “deal” with this marriage for a year. I threw off my covers and climbed out of my bed. “And I want to be someone’s first choice, not the one they’re stuck with.”

“You are my fucking choice!”

He cursed and clung to his head, bending over at the waist. Shock whipped around me like a lasso, making me stumble toward the window.

A stinging pain slammed into my chest as he gripped his own head and cursed his hangover from hell.

“Fucking goddamn whiskey,” he groaned. With his face still scrunched and the palms of his hands pressed against his temples. He stood to his full height, clearly in pain. “I chose you when I agreed to marry you. I chose you when I kissed you before the ceremony and when we said our vows. I chose you that night I took you to bed and all the nights we’ve spent watching television and getting to know each other. I chose you yesterday, in that hot tub, Emmersyn, because you’re the only woman I’ve been able to think about at all ever since you showed up on my front porch. I haven’t been sitting here, missing Ava, I’ve been denying that I was so fucking blown away by you, I wanted you.”

Holy shit. My world spun and tipped and tilted. My entire being swelled with hope as my knees wobbled.

“So what now?” I asked and twisted my hands together in front of me.

He sighed, scrubbed his face, and dropped his hands to his hips. “If you’re wanting some kind of declaration, I can’t give you that. Not today, especially after everything that happened yesterday, but also because it’s too soon. I need to be sure. I need time.”

“I’m not demanding forever, Kane.”

“Then you need to know I care about you. I respect you. Everything I learn about you only makes me want to dig more. I like that you can kick my ass on the golf course and you don’t rub it in my face but stay encouraging. I like knowing you’re at my games or home waiting for me when I get home. I like watching you learn to cook and never get mad at yourself or disheartened when it doesn’t end up right, and mostly, I just like you. I really like you.”