“And I understand why you had to end this, and I don’t blame you for choosing your own health. You’ve earned every inch of ground you’ve gained, and it would kill me to take that from you. I never want to be the cause of your pain.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, knowing I was now the cause of his.

Weren’t we just a pair?

“You told me that if I loved you, I would walk out the door and wouldn’t come back. But the truth is that I love you enough to walk out the door and come back.”

My breath hitched.

“You can give me up. That’s okay. My love is strong enough to carry us both through this.” He leveled a look on me that said he was completely serious, and despite every plea my brain sent my heart, my posture softened. Defenses gone. His eyes flared, and he took a quick breath. “I’m not giving you up.”

“I’m sorry?” My eyebrows reached for the sky. “That’s not your choice to make.”

“Five minutes.” He pointed to the clock.

I folded my arms under my breasts and felt no small satisfaction when his eyes followed and heated. Ten days hadn’t squashed the chemistry between us. If anything, it apparently had the same effect as a starvation diet—I was ravenous. Hungry but not stupid enough to take the cheese from a time-delayed trap.

He looked at the ceiling, and I could almost see him count to five before he locked eyes with me again. “Right. Back to the point. I’m not giving you up, Morgan. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever, if I have my way.”

I scoffed and narrowed my eyes. Didn’t he realize kidnapping was illegal?

“I’m leaving on a trip in five hours, and as far as I’m concerned, I still have a girlfriend. And in case you’re missing the point, that girlfriend is you.” He grinned, and my body temp rose. Damn it. “You think I’m leaving on this trip and I’m not going to come back.”

I swallowed and shoved the panic as far away as I could.

“So you think that if you don’t love me—if we’re not together while I’m on this trip—you’ll save yourself the heartache of that possible future.”

Bull’s-eye.