Her face softened, but then she lifted a hand and rubbed her eyes. “He’s a petty man, Andrew. He’s the last person I wanted to find out about us. When I thought your chemo was done I kind of let my guard down, but now that you need more treatment…” She shook her head. “Just to be a jerk he could report me, and my job could be in jeopardy. You can’t go around making a scene like that here.”

Andrew gently cupped a hand around her elbow. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know we still needed to be so careful, but no one else was even around.” His eyes searched hers, back and forth. A thick strand of her vibrant hair fell across her shoulder, and he thought of Gavin’s fingers touching it. “Actually, no. I’m sorry for how I went about it, but I won’t apologize for stepping in to defend you. I’ll always do that, no matter what.”

“I don’t need you to protect me. I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing things on my own my whole life.”

He slid his hand down her arm to take her hand. “But now you don’t have to. I’m here.”

She yanked her hand back. “I don’t need you, don’t you understand? I want you, Andrew. But I don’t need you.”

Wow.

Andrew felt that like a punch in the gut, and he swayed back a few inches. “You don’t need me,” he repeated.

“What I need is to keep my job here, so I don’t end up back in Oklahoma at a job I’ll hate. And you may have just ruined that.”

Indignation flared alongside his earlier anger, which hadn’t faded. “It takes two to do what we’ve been doing, you know,” he pointed out. “And if you’re so good at handling things on your own, why would you ever work for your dad? If you hate the idea so much, and know you won’t be happy, why would you allow yourself to be manipulated into going back? I’m clearly not the only man trying to be a part of your life. But I’m damn sure the only one who cares about your happiness.”

“If you cared about my happiness, you wouldn’t have potentially gotten me fired!”