Page 51 of Most Likely to Fear Love

“Yeah, the guys are so rapt. That sort of thing hardly ever happens. So, they’re off and running.”

“That’s great news.”

“Yeah.”

After that, we ate our burgers and fries for a little while without speaking. I was just starting to relax when Harle leaned back in his seat, wiping his hands on a napkin. His eyes swept over me, soft but purposeful, and my breath hitched under the weight of his attention.

“How’re you doing, darlin’?” His voice was as gentle as a summer breeze.

Warmth unfurled low in my belly, and I felt the color rush to my cheeks. I dropped my gaze, suddenly fascinated with the grooves in the table. “I’m fine,” I said too quickly. “Really, I’m good. Great, actually.”

“Hmm.”

I flicked him a quick look. He didn’t look convinced, and the way his eyes lingered on me made my shoulders sag.

I sighed, pushing my food away. “Okay, maybe I’m not great.”

He didn’t say anything, just waited, his quiet patience loosening the knot of words stuck in my throat.

“I feel really shitty,” I finally admitted. “I feel like my body’s failing me, and it just…it hurts. Everything hurts.”

Harle’s expression didn’t change, but something shifted in his eyes, a flicker of understanding that made it harder to keep talking.

I swallowed hard and pushed the rest out. “Maybe I should just give up. I mean, what’s the point, right? It didn’t work last time. It’s not going to work this time.”

“You don’t know that for sure. The only way you can guarantee the outcome is if you stop trying. Then you definitely won’t get what you want.”

“You’re awfully wise for a guy your age, you know that?”

Harle shrugged. “You haven’t explored every option. Until you’ve done that, it’s not over.”

“Well, what more is there?”

“The old-fashioned way.”

Oh. Fuck. I stared at him for a long moment as my brain struggled to process his words. “The…the old fashioned way? You mean…”

Harle leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, his expression unreadable. “I’ve got a proposition for you.” His tonewas steady but low enough to send a shiver up my spine. “If you’re willing to hear me out.”

I blinked, thrown off by the seriousness in his voice. “A proposition?”

He nodded, holding my gaze like he was testing my resolve.

My pulse thudded in my ears, and I felt the urge to crack a joke, deflect the intensity of the moment, but the look in his eyes stopped me. Instead, I nodded. “Okay. I’m listening.”

He exhaled slowly, like he’d been bracing himself for my answer. “You come stay at my place for ten days. We give it a shot the old-fashioned way. No doctors, no labs, no spreadsheets. Just…us.”

The air seemed to leave the room. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Had he really just said that?

“You mean…” I swallowed heavily. “You and me, uh…?”

His lips quirked into the faintest hint of a smile. “Yeah. The normal way. We see what happens.”

“Oh. Fuck.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them, and Harle’s smirk widened, but he didn’t say anything. He just sat there, letting me process, his calm composure somehow more nerve-wracking than if he’d been trying to convince me.

“I…I don’t know,” I stammered. My hands gripped the edge of the table, my brain a tangle of questions, doubts, and nerves.

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