“You say that like I should just wait for the right guy, but it’s not going to work like that. When I go home, I’m going to become marriage-minded. It won’t be Marcel, but it’ll be someone I meet in the not-too-distant future. And I’m so afraid of settling again. Maybe it’s just the pressure I feel to get everything in before I leave here, but I’m terrified of going home, getting numb again, and settling for another guy I don’t have any sparks with, and God, Brodie, I just want to feel it once, you know? Just once, I want to have headboard-banging, electrifying sex.”

The way she looked at him, soft mouth and lazy eyes, made him think her thoughts matched his. Bet I’d feel it with you. But, then, with a wave of her hand, she broke the mood. “So, what happened? Aren’t you supposed to be off on a romantic weekend?”

“Romantic? No, I told you. Vanessa wanted to show me a house in Bozeman.”

Rosie gave him a look that said, Really? You’re that clueless?

“Yeah, I mean, obviously she hoped for more. But we addressed it, and we agreed we’re going to stick to a business relationship.”

“Is she devastated?”

“Devastated? Nah. She doesn’t want me. She just likes the idea of marrying a Bowie.”

“Well, I can see why.” He caught her wistful tone, and he hated what her life must be like in St. Christophe, the constant scrutiny, the limitations. The weight of a future that didn’t fit her.

She would come alive in Calamity. She’d become her best self here.

“Have you ever been in love?” She unscrewed the cap on the blue bottle and sniffed it, her facial muscles relaxing.

“And we have a winner.”

She smiled. “We do.”

He could read her so well now. Awareness flashed like sunlight glinting off a mirror. That’s what he liked about her. The way his mom had played him, he’d bought her lies. That was why he didn’t trust. But Rosie was transparent—and it made him feel safe with her.

“So, have you?” she asked. “Ever been in love?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t want what your brothers have?”

He remembered what Vanessa had said. You play hard, and you love hard. The strangest sensation crept over him, like a wand sweeping over his body and activating each cell, until his whole body vibrated.

I could love Rosie that hard.

What a fucking revelation.

The reason he hadn’t understood his brothers’ choices was because he hadn’t met Rosie. “A week ago, I would’ve said no. But now I think I get what they have. It’s not about settling down. It’s about meeting one particular woman. The right one.” You. “And somehow I don’t think that happens all that often.”