The warmth of the kitchen seemed to escape the room. There it was. That was what had been lurking beneath their happiness all morning. She’d known when they’d started their game that he wasn’t in love with her. And she’d known even when he suggested they marry for real that he hadn’t been in love with her. She’d told herself it was fine, that she wasn’t in love with him. That was the brilliance of this whole plan—they could love each other without being in love.

It had seemed so perfect, and now it just felt… hollow.

“Never?” she asked, keeping her voice light.

He turned to face her, his gaze curious. “The way I see it, if you’re never in love with someone, you can never fall out of love with them. And if you don’t fall out of love with someone, you can’t hurt them. They can’t hurt you.”

She set a hand on his arm. “Clarke, you know I would never hurt you, right?”

“I know.” He grinned. “Why do you think I want to marry you, woman? You know all my flaws and love me anyway, but you also know I’m no Prince Charming.”

“Ah,” she said, finally understanding him a little more clearly. “You can’t fall off the horse if you’re never the white knight in the first place.”

“And you’re smart, too,” he said, leaning down and kissing her cheek. “Reason number 9,939 why I love you.”

Love me. But not in love with me. Not now, not ever.

Which was what she’d signed up for. She knew the score. It’s what she’d thought she’d wanted as well. To avoid being hurt like Brayden had hurt her. To remove herself from the dating pool before she could hurt someone else like she’d hurt Claire.

So why then did she so badly want to take Clarke’s face in her hands and tell him that he deserved more? That he deserved to wait for a woman who did see him as the white knight, the Prince Charming, the hero of the fairy tale?

Because he was worth it, she realized. He was worth all the risk, all the pain. He was worth everything. He was everything.

She closed her eyes and let the realization that she’d been pushing back for weeks now roll over her. Oh, Audrey. You are so in love, and so in trouble.

Clarke grinned, oblivious to her thoughts. “So, bride, I’ve seen you naked, and it’s an A+. The whole night was an A+, but don’t think for one moment I didn’t hear your slip of the tongue yesterday,” he said, cracking eggs into a bowl and beginning to whisk them.

“What?” she asked, not following.