“You don’t have to earn me wanting to stay with you.” The words shattered her completely, and a sob escaped her before she could stop it. Jonnas pulled her against him instantly, wrapping both arms around her while she cried into his bare chest. And for the first time in her entire life, Dani realized she wasn’t crying because she felt abandoned. She was crying because someone finally refused to leave.
Dani fell asleep in Jonnas’s arms sometime after midnight, not because the fear disappeared or the HR investigation magically stopped mattering, but because for the first time since thiswhole mess started, she stopped carrying it alone. That changed everything.
She woke hours later, tangled against his chest beneath an old quilt her grandmother used to keep folded across the couch. Rain still tapped softly against the cabin windows, but the storm had weakened overnight.
Jonnas was awake already. One hand rested low against her back while the other moved slowly through her hair, grounding her before she even fully woke up. “Morning,” he breathed. Dani smiled before she could stop herself. God, she loved waking up to this man. He made her feel seen every time he said it; she felt seen in a way she never had before.
“You sleep okay?” he asked quietly.
She nodded against his chest. “Better.” Relief flickered across his face instantly, like her answer genuinely mattered to him. That still shocked her every time.
Jonnas brushed his lips softly against her forehead before tightening his arm around her. “You scared the hell out of me.” The rough honesty in his voice made guilt tighten instantly in her chest.
“I know,” she whispered.
“No.” He looked down at her seriously. “I don’t think you do.” Dani swallowed hard, because maybe she didn’t. Maybe she still didn’t fully understand how deeply she’d gotten under his skin.
Jonnas exhaled slowly before resting his forehead briefly against hers. “When I walked into that apartment and realized you were gone—” His jaw flexed hard. “I couldn’t breathe for a second.”
Her chest ached painfully. “You made me feel selfish,” she whispered.
His brows furrowed immediately. “What?” he asked.
“I feel selfish, because a part of me loved that you came after me,” she admitted. The confession burned on the way out ofher mouth. She felt vulnerable and humiliated, but Jonnas just looked wrecked by her admission.
“Baby girl.” His voice softened painfully. “You think wanting to be chased is selfish?” Dani looked away, because yes, that was exactly what she thought. Didn’t it make her needy? Or too much? Jonnas tipped her face back toward him immediately.
“No hiding,” he said. The quiet firmness in his tone made warmth spread low through her stomach despite everything. “You know what I think?” he murmured.
“What?” she asked.
“I think you’ve spent your whole life settling for people who made you feel optional.” Even before him, every relationship she’d had carried this underlying feeling that eventually she’d become inconvenient. Jonnas seemed to see the realization spread across her face, and something fierce moved behind his eyes instantly.
“That ends with me,” he growled.
“How do you say things like that so easily?” she whispered.
“Because they’re true,” he admitted. Fresh tears burned in her eyes.
Dani laughed weakly. “I’m honestly getting tired of crying in front of you.”
“You’re pregnant and overwhelmed.” One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “I’d be more concerned if you weren’t emotional.”
“You can’t be serious,” she grumbled.
“I am very serious.” His thumb brushed slowly beneath her eye. “What feels fake is how long you convinced yourself you had to survive everything alone.” Silence settled between them after that, and Jonnas’s expression shifted slightly, like he’d remembered something.
“What?” she asked softly.
His jaw tightened immediately. “I have to go back this afternoon.” Fear hit her instantly.
Dani pushed herself upright slightly. “For the investigation?” He nodded, and her stomach twisted violently as reality crashed back over her all at once. The hospital, the rumors, the complaint—they were all still waiting for them outside of the cabin.
Jonnas noticed the exact second panic started climbing into her face. “Hey.” His hands settled carefully against her waist. “Look at me.” She did automatically. “There’s my girl.” The words soothed something inside her instantly. God. That shouldn’t work as well as it did.
“I don’t want you going back there alone,” she whispered.
His expression softened immediately. “You think I’m worried about myself right now?”