“What?” He was gaping. Dammit. Eric managed to get out of his stupor and open the gate. It swung open, and he stomped down on the gas, braking right in the middle of the rounded drive that led to the main entrance of his home. He killed the engine and whirled toward her. “Say that again.”

She unhooked her seatbelt. Angled toward him. “I care about you, Eric. You’re not some stranger. I’ve always cared, even when you made me madder than hell. You hurt me, and I still cared. You enraged me, and I still cared.”

That was promising. Very, very promising.

“I can’t remember my life without you being in it. You’ve been there, whether in the shadows or in big, bright, infuriating color for as long as I can remember.” She swallowed. “So, yes, I care, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want to go to some crime scene and see yellow police tape and hear that you were the one inside. That you were tortured or that you were killed. Because…I need you in my life. I want you there.”

He shook his head. An instinctive movement because there was no way Piper was telling this stuff to him. She couldn’t be saying that she really, truly needed him.

But it was the wrong gesture. So wrong. So typical of him when he tried to communicate with Piper. She sucked in a sharp breath and her hand flew out toward the door. She shoved it open and ran for the house.

Oh, the hell, no. “Piper!” He tried to lunge after her, but, shit, he still had on his seatbelt, and the damn thing jerked him back. Cursing and snarling, he freed himself and hurried after her. He caught her just as she was heading up the steps. He spun her back around to face him.

“Just stop, Eric! Let me go! I’m trying to not make an ass of myself again by saying—”

“Say any fucking thing you want to me, baby. But listen to me first, okay? Please? I was shaking my head because I couldn’t believe you were saying that shit to me. That you actually—hell, I care about you, too.” Care, such a tame word. A ridiculously easy, tame word. One that didn’t come close to explaining how he actually felt about her. “I…care.” The word jammed in his throat. “I want you in my life. I need you there. And if something were to happen and you left my world, dammit, nothing would be same.” He wouldn’t be the same. Without her, Eric was pretty sure he’d crash and burn.

***