He drew a deep breath. “I care about you. All of you.”
“You do?”
He slanted her a look meant to chastise.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“You should be.” He let his hand come to rest on her shoulder. “Why do you keep doubting me?”
She flicked her bangs out of her eyes. A gesture that had become second nature to her and so familiar to Mike that it caused a warmth in the region of his heart... because she used it whenever he touched hers.
“I can’t remember the last person who cared enough about me to ask something so... trivial.”
“Since when is your career trivial?”
She shook her head. “To me it’s not. But to other people...” Her shoulders lifted and fell.
“Hey.”
Raising her long lashes, she looked at him with wide eyes.
“Don’t I deserve a label a little more personal than other people?”
“Yeah, I guess you do.” She laughed, a light-hearted sound that despite the tense and somber circumstances sounded natural, not forced. A sound Mike knew he would carry with him wherever he went.
“Progress.” Releasing an exaggerated groan, he propped his feet up on the couch, prompting her to shift and join him laying down or be dislodged.
“So. How do you go about solving the problems of the American teenager?”
Carly leaned her head against his chest and snuggled closer so she wouldn’t topple onto the floor. Enjoying his warmth and needing his strength had nothing to do with her actions. “Name your biggest problem as a teen,” she said.
“Family,” he said without hesitation.
Thinking about his parents’ deaths and his disinterested aunt and uncle, she could only imagine the depth of the dysfunction he’d lived. “And after family?” she asked.
“Sex.”
She nudged him in the side with her elbow.
He groaned. “Direct hit,” he muttered. “I meant girls.”
“Relationships,” she clarified. “And from a teenage girls’ perspective, it was probably friends and then relationships,” she said in a purely authoritative tone.
“I like this take-charge side of you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.
She laughed. “Normally I handle myself pretty well. You just came into my life at... a crossroads.”
“You’ll get through it. I have faith. So tell me, how far have you gotten on each section?” he asked, then listened intently as she filled him in on her progress—or lack thereof.
His interest warmed her. He obviously cared for her, for more than just the physical relationship they’d shared. And despite his imminent departure, he’d proven the kind of man he really was. The kind who wouldn’t be content to leave friends and responsibilities hanging. The kind who would face his fears and move on, leaving her behind.
She snuggled closer into his embrace. Letting him go would be harder than she had thought, but he’d never expressed an interest in anything long-term, never even indicated he’d want to stay. She ignored the little voice reminding her that she hadn’t exactly encouraged him, either.
Lacing his fingers through hers, he rested their hands together on her stomach. “I know you’ll finish that book and make me proud.”
He laughed, and the deep rumble passed right through her. “If I can get past my own family history, maybe.”
“I have faith, but we’ll see, won’t we?”
No, we won’t. Because he wouldn’t be around. “Will you be okay?” she asked, hating her unsteady voice and the trembling in her body.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” He pressed a gentle kiss against her cheek.
Carly closed her eyes, fighting the tears his touch inspired. She knew his promise wasn’t within his power to keep, but she let the words lie. She needed to hear them, to keep them close to her heart.
“You can handle this, Mike.” Bolstering his confidence, even when her own was flagging, was the least she could do for the man she loved. And she did love him. No sense in denying the truth to herself. Not now. “And once you go back, you’ll understand that. Everything you love is waiting for you.”
“Not everything.” His arms grasped her tighter, making it difficult to draw a breath.
She didn’t care. For tonight, his embrace was the only thing that mattered.
They lay in silence. The clock in the hallway mocked them as it loudly ticked away the moments of the night. With each passing minute, dawn came closer.
Carly didn’t realize she had dozed off. When she awoke, she had a stiff neck from her position on the couch. She knew without looking around.