Too late. She thought bitterly as he said he he tried not to make a fool of the women in in life. Twice already she had been completely and utterly embarrassed by him. Which was an unfair thought, she was partly to blame, but it felt twisted somehow, all backwards and out of sorts

Torie forced herself to listen to what he had to say, the rest of the fight leaving her as she sighed, shoulders drooping. Was it really not obvious? Could he really not know how she felt about him? He stepped closer and she didn't move, watching him carefully.

Biting her lip, she realized she was relieved; his honesty dissolving some of her fears. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to articulate what she wanted to say. "I want all of that too, and I want it with you," at the very bottom of it, that was it. "I hope that would have been obvious by now." Her voice was quiet, but steady. "I wouldn't try so hard for just anyone, Anthony. Wouldn't show this side, or entertain the idea of vaulting over every boundary that could possibly ruin me, for anyone but you." Whatever he thought of her, of what she'd been willing to allow, he had to know that much.