She blinked, taken aback. “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that.”
“Well, start. You’re more adventurous than you think. You don’t give yourself enough credit. And while I respect your reasons for staying away from high-risk hobbies, I think you might be surprised how much you’d like a few of them if you ever tried. Like rock climbing.” He grinned. “I mean, shit, you’d take it personally if you didn’t make it to the top on the first try. You’d call the rocks ‘bitches’ and rig up to try again, determined not to let a slab of granite best the badass that is Claire Harper.”
A laugh bubbled up. “I totally would.”
“See? You don’t see yourself the way other people do.”
That wasn’t so easy to agree with.
“Claire, tons of people are unmarried at thirty-one. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Millions, probably. It’s not always easy to find that person you’re meant to be with. Not everyone grew up next door to the love of their life like Mia and Noah. And even for those two, it took a ridiculously long time for them to figure their shit out.”
He had a point.
“Not finding your soulmate by now doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you. Because believe me, there’s not.” Something in the way he said that made her stomach flip. “It just means the right guy hasn’t found you yet. And I can guarantee he’s looking.”
Something inside her chest melted, which made her suspicious. “You’re being really sweet,” she accused. “And we’re fully clothed.”
He sat in the wooden rocking chair, legs splayed and palms on his thighs. When he lifted one hand to run his fingers through his hair in a move that somehow seemed deceptively lazy, Claire’s gaze snagged on his rippling forearm. “I don’t know why you sound so surprised. Sweet is my default setting.”
How was he so sexy all the time? “More like sarcastic and foul-mouthed, but okay.”
“You didn’t seem to mind the other night.”
“I did not.”
His lids lowered a little as he watched her, their words hanging in the air. A low simmer of heat seemed to constantly burn beneath the surface when they were together, and the temperature rose by several degrees every day.
“Is this too weird?” she blurted out.
He arched a brow.
“Talking to you about my dating life while we’re…you know.”
“Nah. I knew what was up going into this. You want commitment and someone to share your deepest, darkest everythings with, and vice versa. That’s not what I have to offer and I don’t blame you for still wanting to find it.” He shifted in his chair. “Is it weird for you?”
“It might be if I actually like this guy.”
Graham glanced away for a beat. “Well, if that happens we stop what we’re doing. I’m fine with it to a point, but the second you’d rather be in another man’s bed instead of mine, we’re done here.”
His tone stung, but she tried not to let it get to her. “I understand.”
Silence descended along with an air of awkwardness that didn’t often exist between them. Graham seemed to dislike it as much as she did, and spoke again. “For what it’s worth, I hope you like him. You deserve everything you’re looking for and more.”
The sincere words were a balm to her soul, and she wished like hell she could say something to return the favor.
If she were being honest, she wished she and Graham were two people who could make it work, because there were so many things she liked about the man sitting beside her. His humor, his desire to help people, the way she knew he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to run into a burning building to save anything that breathes, be it a human or an animal, like the tiny dog curled up at his feet. She’d never had as much fun with anyone else, whether they were out on the town or at home playing a ridiculous card game. He could make something as mundane as a game of Old Maid fun…or sexy, depending on his mood.
That was the other thing. That pesky thing called attraction. She’d never connected with someone so well physically, including her most serious boyfriend, whom she’d dated for almost a year. She’d always sort of watched Graham from afar, proud to enter a room with him but never considering laying claim to him. They were friends and that was it.
She would have never guessed that kissing him on a whim would completely turn that on its head and take them down this path. But man, every time their lips touched, it was like lighting a match and throwing it on the campfire. The negative thoughts parading through her mind that said maybe she wasn’t, and would never be, enough for a man went up in flames.