Chapter 29

Her tears last night… God, listening to her cry in Luc’s arms had nearly done him in. Luc had soothed her, whispered to her. Those soft sobs and torn breaths had eaten at Deke, gnawing on his resolve. He wanted to be the one to comfort her.

Dangerous want. If he’d held her, caressed her last night, he would have ended up making love to her. Not fucking her. The kind of sweet, soft loving meant to reassure. The kind that would bond them together. For her sake and his sanity, he’d resisted.

First jealousy, now this. What the hell was wrong with him?

Kimber drew in a bracing breath. “After yesterday morning and last night, I can’t stay. You don’t want me here, and I know why. Thanks for the help you’ve given me. I’ll get my things and be gone by ten.”

What the…? Gone by ten. Her words should have been a relief, but Kimber was a fighter. Why would she suddenly concede and retreat? And why did the thought of her leaving take a gash out of something inside him that felt s