Page 90 of Dandelion Sighs

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jasper

Sheridan pushed me back with the tips of her fingers. She jumped down and brushed her skirt straight. Her face was beet red, and her lips kiss-swollen. “You don’t mean that.”

I pushed aside the cold her distance created. I’d never meant anything more. “Yes, I do.”

“No, you’re trying to save me.” She marched to the door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?” Panic welled up, and I scrambled to shove my dick away and pull my pants up. She was going to leave? Just like that? I could not be left hanging with another rejected proposal.

Had I planned on asking her to marry me? Not today. But while we’d been eating, the thought crossed my mind. Then it grew. I loved her, and what was going on between us was special. It was one of a kind.

She stopped, facing away from me. “I’m going back to my office.”

I propped my hands on my hips. Pleasure still sang through my body, but it was getting muted by the second. She’d rather retreat to her cot instead of talking this out? “Why?”

Throwing her hands up, she turned around. “Because I told you that I loved you, and your answer was to save me from selling the resort.”

“That would be a by-product of getting married, yes.”

Frustration rippled through her expression. “This was supposed to be a sweet moment. Something for us, and you threw out another marriage proposal.”

I cut my hands through the air. “I said I love you too.”

“And then we should’ve gone to bed. You should’ve tucked me into your side and…and I don’t know…use two more condoms? Wake up late? Make eggs? Be in love.”

I shook my head. This wasn’t about the resort. It was, but it was more about us. “I still don’t get what I did wrong.”

“I know you don’t.” Her shoulders sagged. “You’ve been swooping in since I’ve met you, and you do it without making me feel inept. You’re not even trying. It’s just you.”

“Because you’re not inept, and we work pretty damn well together.”

“You can’t take this huge moment between us and try to fix things.” She punctuated her point with a finger in the air, then dropped her arm until her hand hit her leg. “Do you even really love me?”

I jolted. “Of course I do.” How could she think I was lying about that? Worse, how could she think I was using it to coerce her into letting me help her?

“How will I know?” The shine in her eyes broke my heart.

Three steps and I was in front of her. “Because I mean it, and I’ll prove it for forever. I love you, Sheridan.”

“Then why did you ask me to marry you?” Her voice was small, fragile.

Goddammit, how had I messed this up so bad? “Because it feels right.” When she didn’t bat away my words, my hopes rose. Could I save this and get the girl? “You’ve always felt right. You saw the worth in me when I was doubting that I had much. Then when you told me that you were giving up, I just thought why throw it all away when we could both get what we wanted.”

The air between us filled with ice. “We could both get what we wanted? And what is it you think I want?”

Was this a trick question? A voice in the depths of my brain told me to proceed carefully. “Bishop’s Landing.”

Her lips flatlined. “And what is it that you want?”

“You.” That was an easy answer. It was all simple. Couldn’t she see that?

She held my gaze. The tip of her tongue licked out to wet her lower lip. I was on a precipice, and she was my balance. Which way was she going to go? “What if I still sold?”

I drew back, appalled at the idea. “Why would you?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. Tension rode along her shoulders. “Are you really worried about losing the land that your grandma left you?”