“I know I’m a mess,” she said quickly, her fingers clutching her purse so tightly, her knuckles were white. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my life and what I’m doing and not doing. I got thrown out of grief group.” Her mouth twisted. “There has been one hit after the other, lately. People telling me I’m stuck and that I need to move on and I’ve fought them so hard. I’m exhausted by the fight. It’s all of them against just me and for so long, I believed I was right. But what if I’m not?”

She drew in a breath. “I want to change. I don’t know how, exactly, or what is okay and what isn’t, but I want to find out. So I wondered if you still wanted to go out with me because I’d like that very much. You’re easy to be with and I feel safe around you. Plus, I keep thinking about you, so there’s that.” She gave him a faint smile. “And, you know, the skydiving.”

The smile faded and she cleared her throat. “Which is all about me, right? And dating should be about both people. You asked me out before, which makes me think maybe you like me enough to want to try again, because I know I can do better. If you would be willing to give me another chance...”

No. It was the right answer, and an easy word for him to say. He said no all the time. Get involved with Unity? He didn’t need the drama or the pain in his ass. She was trouble and a mistake and the fact that he wanted her in his bed was meaningless because what were the odds of that ever happening?

He looked at her, at her fear-filled eyes and the faint quiver in her lower lip. Coming here had taken a lot of courage, he had to give her that. She’d put herself out there, risking rejection. She probably thought she was braced for it.

If only, he thought grimly. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he didn’t have the power to resist her. If she hadn’t said she couldn’t stop thinking about him, he might have had a chance, but she had and now he was well and truly stuck with his feelings and his wanting and being a damned idiot when it came to this one woman.

“We can go out,” he said, giving in to the inevitable. One day he would be over her, but he wasn’t there yet.

Her eyes brightened, her mouth curved up and her entire body relaxed. “You’re sure?”

He nodded.

“Oh, good. Thank you. That’s so great. Is there something you’d like to do? Set up a date or—” She paused. “I don’t know what you want.”

“How about the next time I kiss you, you kiss me back?”

She flushed, but kept her gaze on him. “I agree. That would be good.” She took a tentative step toward him. “Did you want to kiss me now?”