That was the second time today someone had called him an idiot. Normally, that would have ticked him off. Instead, it made him wonder if maybe they weren't right. Which, in turn, ticked him off. Rafe didn't particularly like being wrong, especially when he felt adamantly about whatever it was he was arguing over. Kim could do better. So much better. Yet there she was, laying out all the reasons why she didn't want to. How was he supposed to stand up against that? What little resolve he had left was wavering. There'd never been anything in his life he wanted more than this, but he couldn't bring himself to just take it without question.
If he gave in, and finally let himself feel all the things he'd been denied for nearly two years, there was no way he was going to handle it well. If she walked away from him, he had no doubts that it would shatter him completely, which scared the living shit out of him. He wasn't used to being so utterly dependent on someone else. It was easier to go at it alone. Then Kim had walked straight in to his life, and that philosophy had been screwed all to hell. He wasn't sure what he would do without her, and if this ended with her taking off like every other woman he'd been with...well, it was better to keep her around as a friend than to risk it. That was the sensible option.
But when had he ever been sensible?
He cupped her face in his hands, his touch at odds with his fierce look. "You'd better be sure. Damn it, Kim, you'd better be really fucking sure."