Page 66 of The Last True Hero

Maybe McClain doesn't want to break his own heart?

"We live in a dangerous world," she whispered, "I want to take my chances where I can."

McClain simply looked at her.

"I know." This was the worst time to be trying to think her way through this. Exhaustion slid through her veins, a heavy drug.

"Mia." He rolled toward her. She felt the bed shift and then his warmth seemed to envelop her, as if their auras connected. A hand brushed her arm, and she felt the longing in that touch too.

Knew that she wasn't the only one who felt that chasm. Maybe that was why she'd connected with him so instantly?

"I owed Luc a debt," McClain murmured, so quietly she almost didn't hear him at first, "and I repaid part of that by looking after his child. It was my fault he had to leave, and when he came back I couldn't say no when he wanted to take her. Lily was his, and the only reason she'd been forced to grow up without her father was because of me. I betrayed him. I cost him everything he ever had. It tore my heart out of my chest, but she was his before she was mine."

McClain's shoulders blotted out the light of the moon through the window, leaving his body a dark mass in the night. But she could still feel the heat contained beneath his skin.

"Thank you," she whispered, reaching out and hooking her index fingers through his. "I'm sorry that you lost her."

He released a huff of breath. "So am I. This last year... riding alone... I don't think I let myself look too closely at all that I'd lost. But the truth is, I miss her. The way she'd look at me as if I could solve every problem in the world. I miss my sister, Eden, and I miss having a home. Having friends."

"You could find a new home." She rubbed her thumb against his. "Maybe you could see your sister again?"

No. The answer was no. She felt it in him.

And it hurt her heart.

She at least had something.

McClain shifted. "Mia...."

Here it came.

"I should sleep in the chair," he said, withdrawing his hand from hers. Swinging those long legs over the bed, he made to sit up, but she scrambled after him and caught his wrist.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Nothing can happen between us. You know that, right?" Shadow sliced across his high cheekbones as he glanced back at her.

"Yeah, I got it."Thanks. She nursed her injured feelings. "I wasn't going to do anything."

"Every time you touch me you make this harder."

Mia withdrew her hand and knelt on the bed. "Then I won't touch you. The bed's just big enough for two of us. And even if Iweretempted, I'm fairly certain I don't have the energy anymore. I'm wrecked. And I won't pretend you don't do all kinds of bad things to my willpower, but I need sleep." She lowered her butt onto her heels. "You're exhausted too. And we're both adults. We can share a bed for one night without it going any further. Besides, that chair looks uncomfortable."

McClain sighed. "It is uncomfortable."

And that was about as much capitulation as she was going to get tonight.

"Stay," she told him. "I promise I won't ravish you in your sleep."

McClain lay back down, clasping his hands under his head. Despite her words, she couldn't resist looking at the powerful muscles in those upper arms. "Good night, Mia."

Later. Maybe. She wasn't going to give up on that hope. Tonight he'd reached out to her. That was something. Mia squeezed her eyes shut. "Good night."

Slipping her jeans off, she slid under the blanket and gave him her back again, ignoring the pointed silence from the other side of the bed. He would just have to deal with the fact her legs were bare. She was too tired, too ratty, to give a shit anymore. Especially after that latest rejection.

Or was it?

Her eyes shot open in the dark as she thought about his words. Nothingcanhappen between us... NotI don't want anything to happen.