“This is when your neighbor moved in.” Blake’s finger jabbed at the timeline.
My mouth fell open as I took in the full scope of his office. This wasn’t just a doctor trying to solve a case.
This was obsession.
This was a man who’d been combing through my medical history like a detective who couldn’t let go of an unsolved crime. Evidently making other phone calls, too, to find out facts like when my neighbor moved in. Surrounded by Blake’s obsession, I felt my heart drop and pain wrap around my ribs, seizing them in its grip.
Hewasunhinged.
And worse, all this time we’d spent together, all those looks I’d interpreted as romantic? Must have been nothing more than him studying me, like a goddamned science experiment!
“Is this all I am to you?” The words escaped before I could stop them, thick with tears I refused to let fall. I should have been grateful. Wasn’t this what I’d wanted? A doctor who finally took me seriously? Who went above and beyond to help me? But standing in what felt like a shrine to my illness, my heart was shattering for an entirely different reason. “Is that why you’ve been spending time with me?” My lip trembled traitorously.“Because doctors love a good mystery, right? Is that all this was?”
With enough time, I could’ve handled his rejection. I could have handled his reasons that we couldn’t be together. But I couldn’t handle it if our relationship had all been in my head.
“Tess—”
“God, I’m such an idiot.” I placed a hand over my stomach. “I actually thought … I thought you were interested in me. Not my symptoms. Not the medical puzzle. Just … me.”
“That’s not?—”
“The way I’ve always been interested in you.” The confession ripped from my throat, years of buried feelings suddenly spilling out. I turned away, unable to look at him. “How pathetic is that? The teenage girl who never grew up, who spent years wishing you’d look at me the way I looked at you. And then I end up in your ER, and we’re finally talking again, and I let myself hope—” My voice cracked. “But this whole time, I was just a case study.”
I fled to my room, yanking my suitcase and speed-walking down the hallway.
I had to get out of here before I completely fell apart.
Blake caught up to me though because I wasn’t even allowed to have my final emotional breaking point in peace.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done,” I managed, jabbing the elevator button repeatedly. “But this is too much. Every wedding I’ve ever planned, every centerpiece I’ve designed, do you know what I was thinking?Would Blake like this? Would Blake choose this?God, it’s humiliating.” The words wouldn’t stop now. “And then miracle of miracles, you’re finally in my life again, and I think maybe, maybe this time … but no. I’m just your medical mystery of the month.”
“That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“That room says otherwise.”
“That room?” Blake’s jaw clenched. “That room isn’t evidence that I don’t care about you, Tessa. It’s proof that I’m terrified of losing you.”
I froze.
“How dare you accuse me of not caring!” He stepped closer, radiating fury and something else, something raw. “I care so much that it fucking scares me. Do you want to know the biggest reason I pushed you away? Because everyone I’ve ever loved has left me, and the thought of you leaving …” His voice broke. “I couldn’t survive that. Notyou.”
“Blake—”
“That wall? That’s me trying desperately to keep you safe. Every time I hear about you suffering, it feels like someone’s ripping my heart out. And this, solving this, was the one thing I thought I could do for you. Your family took in this pathetic, emotionally stunted kid who didn’t know how to be a friend, who still doesn’t know how to do relationships, and you …” He raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve always been there. Always. And I’ve never earned that.”
My heart was hammering so hard that I could barely breathe.
“So, don’t you dare think this obsession means I don’t care about you.” He closed the distance between us, eyes blazing. “It means I love you, Tessa. I have always loved you, no matter how hard I fought it. I will always love you.”
For a heartbeat, time stopped.
Then Blake’s gaze dropped to my suitcase. With a growl of frustration, he yanked it from my hand and hurled it aside. It hit the wall with a crash that echoed through the hallway.
Before I could process what was happening, his hands were cupping my face, and his mouth crashed into mine. The kiss was desperate, hungry with years of denial and want and love pouring out all at once. I clutched his shirt, pulling him closer as his fingers tangled in my hair.
And then … fueled with rage and pain, Blake pushed me against the foyer table.
“You think I don’t care about you?” he growled, biting my lip slightly. “I’ll show you how much I fucking care, Tessa.”
