“Yeah. Sure.” She nodded quickly, pushing away from the post as she moved to go around him. “Look, head on back to that rinky-dink little apartment of yours and whatever flavor of the week you have in your bed. I’m sick of watching you track each vehicle down the road praying it’s Aunt Beth. I’ll be fine without you.”
He caught her arm as she moved for the back door, pulling her around and making the biggest damned mistake of his life. Because he saw her tears. Because he saw the hurt in her eyes as she turned away.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said softly. “I know what you’re offering, Morganna. Don’t make me hurt you. I don’t want to do that.”
Her expression twisted, determination, defiance, and, God help him, adoration filling her eyes. She saw him as some damned knight there to fulfill all her girlish dreams. He was a bastard for even daring to consider touching her. And he wasn’t, he assured himself. He wanted to touch her, but he was old enough that wants wouldn’t hurt him.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I’ve always loved you, Clint.”
“No.” He shook his head firmly, maintaining his hold on her arm as his other hand lifted to touch her cheek gently. His thumb slid over her lips, just because he needed to know if they were as soft as they looked. “You have a crush on me. I’m the only man you can’t twist around your little finger.” He smiled gently. “That’s all, Morganna. And nothing can come of it. Nothing can happen but the loss of something I cherish. Your friendship.”
“I can’t pretend,” she whispered passionately. “You still see me as a child. I’m not a child.”
“Then don’t act like one,” he suggested in return.
Pain flared in her eyes a second before he saw something more. Determination, yes. But something shocking, something almost frightening. He saw hunger. Sexual, intense, and more than he ever wanted to see in her eyes.
“Just kiss me good-bye then.” Her breath hitched. “Just a little kiss.”
“Morganna.” He held her still, staring down at her in regret. Regret for more than she could ever understand. Then he made the mistake of stroking over those soft lips once again.
They parted, the warmth of her mouth searing his flesh as her tongue peeked out to swipe over his thumb before her lips parted and her sharp little teeth nipped at the pad.
And he lost his mind. Hell, he couldn’t even claim insanity, because even a crazy man would have walked away. Instead, in less than a second he had her in his arms, his hand snagging her hair at the back of her neck to pull her head back and his lips covering hers.
She was innocent. He tasted it in her kiss. Felt it in the shock that stiffened her body as he gave her a man’s kiss. A man’s hunger. Slanting his lips over hers, he fought to consume, in one kiss, all the hunger, the sweetness, and the insane need possible. To hold inside his memories.
Sharp, hard kisses parted her lips. His tongue licked over them, before thrusting inside, before possessing her in a way he knew he should have never attempted.
Because she was sweeter than sweet. Hot as hell. And the pleasure ripped through his senses like a cascading explosion as she moaned against his mouth.
As quickly as he had taken her lips, he released her, jerking back to glare down at her as she stared back in shock, in a pleasure that darkened her gray eyes and flushed her heart-shaped face.
“It’s never going to happen,” he snapped, gripping her shoulders to give her a little shake that he prayed would instill some common sense inside her. “Little party girls and Navy SEALs don’t work out, Morganna. Stick to the little boys you run with and leave the men alone. You’ll be a hell of a lot safer that way.”
Before she could argue, and he knew she would argue, he turned and strode quickly from the porch and across the yard to the car he had left parked in the back lot. Staying with her any longer was out of the question.
MORGANNA AT TWENTY-ONE
Being alone sucked. Morganna stared around the living room of the house she had once shared with her parents and her brother. Her parents were dead, her brother was gone more often than he was home, and one day he wouldn’t be here at all.
Her best friend, Raven, spent most of her evenings and nights studying the graphic design she had grown so adept at, and Morganna was stuck in an office job she hated.
And she was alone. Because she didn’t have the common sense to let go of a dream and a man who didn’t want her.
She walked through the living room, moving to the shelf of pictures she kept and the memories they brought.
Clint was in most of them. With her, her brother, and her parents. Handsome. Tough. Hard. Clint had always been harder than he should have been, tougher than anyone else around him. And he had ruined her heart for any other man.
But she was still alone.
Tucked between two of the pictures were the pamphlets she had kept from the Academy. The Law Enforcement Academy was accepting applicants.
She had meant to discuss it with Reno when he was home the week before, but the stay had been a brief one, and he had been exhausted. He had slept the two days he had been home, only to have to leave again.
She laid her head against the shelf and closed her eyes. He would worry if he knew anyway. And Clint, jerk that he was, would do everything to stop her. And he could stop her. He had connections in Atlanta, connections she couldn’t afford to let him use. As long as no one knew she was Reno Chavez’s sister, then there wasn’t a chance of anyone saying anything to Clint. And what were the chances that the guys at the Academy would really care to call Reno and let him know jack? Especially if his name wasn’t on her list of contacts.
She tapped her nail against the papers.
She was bored and she was alone. She wanted more than a secretarial job going nowhere and a silent house every night. Like Reno, she wanted to make a difference. She wanted more than to keep dreaming of something that didn’t exist.
She sighed wearily. Restlessly. She was tired of just being Reno’s sister. Or Clint McIntyre’s responsibility when Reno wasn’t around. She was tired of being put on a shelf and taken down to perform when they decided to visit.
She was strong enough to be who and what she wanted to be. And she didn’t want to wait for Clint any longer.
She pulled the papers from the shelf, shoved them in her purse, and grabbed her car keys. She wasn’t waiting any longer.