Page 70 of Mountain Men on Ice

My shoulders draw up around my ears. “I manage.”

“I know you do. I’m not saying you can’t. I’m saying you don’t have to do everything alone.”

Something sharp flickers through my chest.

“I’ve been doing it alone for a long time.”

“I can tell.”

“That’s not the same as asking for someone to fix it.”

“I wasn’t offering to fix you.”

I swing my legs off the couch and stand, suddenly restless.

He follows me with his eyes. “Okay. I’m officially confused.”

“I don’t like being looked at like a project.”

“I’m not⁠—”

“And I definitely don’t like people assuming I’m struggling just because⁠—”

“Gina.” He sits up now too, slower than me, like he doesn’t want to spook whatever animal I just turned into. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I cross my arms.

Of course I do.

“I meant… I see how hard you work. And I know how expensive places like this are to run. That’s not weakness. That’s reality.”

I swallow.

“That doesn’t mean I want you swooping in with a checkbook.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You were about to.”

“No,” he says gently. “I was about to say I’d like to help. If you wanted it.”

I stare at the floor.

That’s worse.

“I don’t need saving.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

The question hangs there.

He exhales slowly. “Maybe not saving. But… purpose. Yeah.”

I glance back at him.

He looks almost embarrassed.