At some point during the night, I’d stopped shivering and warmed up. And the moment I opened my eyes, I realized why. I’d fallen asleep in Talon’s arms, and sometime between then and now, I’d turned toward him until I had my face pressed against his bare chest.

I must’ve moved, because less than five seconds later, he startled awake. His dark eyes were wide and set on me as if he didn’t know who I was or why we were wrapped up in each other. And the moment recognition hit him, he relaxed instead of pushing me away like I expected him to do.

“What time is it?” I asked and rolled onto my back. I figured I’d give him the opportunity to escape if that was what he wanted. Also, it’d save me from the blow of rejection if he didn’t have to ask me to get off him or move me over.

He stretched and reached behind him, grabbing his phone off the small table between the beds. The screen lit up, and in his gritty, morning baritone, he said, “Nine o’clock. I don’t remember the last time I got that much sleep.”

At his mention of sleep, I was hit with the events of last night. The rolling tide of embarrassment swept me under and threatened to drown me when I recalled having my face in the toilet, and then the subsequent argument in the shower. It only worsened when I remembered Talon climbing into bed with me and the conversation that followed.

Luckily, Talon rolled away from me to sit on the edge of the mattress, which prevented him from recognizing my humiliation. And when he pulled himself to his feet, he succeeded in making me forget about it, too. I tried desperately not to get wrapped up in the sight of his bare back, decorated with the kind of trite art only he could pull off. His shoulders alone were worth a few wet dreams—I had to shake those thoughts loose. Talon had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want me, so there was no point in fantasizing about all the ways he could make me squirm.

“We should probably hurry if we plan to make up for the time we lost yesterday. We’re about thirteen hours from New Orleans, depending on stops and traffic. We just might be able to make it there tonight.” Not once did he look my way while he pulled a T-shirt over his head. It did nothing but leave me even more insecure and confused.

Rather than say anything, I slipped out of bed, grabbed the new pair of jeans from the Walmart bag, and headed to the bathroom. If I could’ve gotten away with it, I would’ve stayed in there all day. As it was, that wasn’t much of an option.

Other than simple questions about making sure we got everything, neither one of us spoke. We had the car loaded up and the room key returned to the front desk in less than thirty minutes. And by the time we made it to the interstate, I was ready to give up on this venture. I had cash in my bag—lots of cash—and contemplated having Talon take me to an airport. After all, he didn’t seem to be interested in this excursion any more than I was.

“How hungry are you?” he asked without looking my way. “We didn’t have much to eat yesterday, and we both fell asleep on empty stomachs. There’s still snacks in the back seat, but eventually, we’ll need to stop somewhere and get a real meal. Just tell me if I need to do that sooner rather than later.”

I ignored the discreet rumbling in my belly and said, “I’m good for now.”

Talon ran his hand over the scruff on his face and sighed. The despondency in it caused me to look his way, and for the first time all morning, I noticed misery lining his lips. And when he glanced in my direction, taking his eyes off the road for a second, I wished he wasn’t wearing sunglasses, because I was sure I’d find more clarity in his gaze.

“Don’t do that, sweetheart.” He dropped his hand to mine in my lap and laced our fingers together. Even though it was unexpected, it calmed some of the misfiring nerves inside my soul.

Last night, I’d asked him not to call me “sweetheart,” and I thought about reiterating it again, yet I couldn’t correct him. I wasn’t sure where the inner battle over the term of endearment had come from, and the longer I tried to understand it, the more confused I became. So rather than focus on it, I tried to remain present.

“Don’t do what?”

“Shut down like you’re ashamed.”

“I’m not. You asked if I was hungry and I answered. You’re the one who’s practically avoided me all morning. I’m just trying to figure out how I’m supposed to act.”

He squeezed my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckle. “Act like yourself.”

“Easier said than done when being myself does nothing but piss you off.”

Another sigh escaped, yet this time, he pulled his hand from mine. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. About all of it—upsetting you, making you feel like shit, and for what happened in the shower. I wish I could take it all back, but at the same time, I don’t…because had none of that happened, I wouldn’t have had the chance to see things differently.”

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t take my eyes off his profile and the deep creases that peeked out from beneath his hair along his brow. “See what differently?”

“Never mind…just forget it.” And now it was his turn to shut down.

There was no way in hell I was about to let it go. Not after a comment like that. “Trust me…I’d love nothing more than to pretend last night didn’t happen. Except I can’t, especially after you make a comment like that.”

My pushy attitude must’ve taken him by surprise, because he flinched and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Then he released the breath he’d held, relaxing a bit more. “We kinda talked about it last night. You don’t remember? You had a little to drink and then threw up.”

I adjusted my position on the seat until I leaned against the door with my knee close to his hand on the shifter between us. “It’s not that I don’t remember. More than anything, I was embarrassed. Then, sometime while I was in the shower, I just got super tired. So even though I remember you climbing into bed and most of what we talked about, I was half-asleep, which makes it all feel very dreamlike. If that makes sense.”

He nodded and looked out his side window for a moment. I had no idea what ran through his mind, yet he seemed to have a hard time discussing it. He licked his lips and returned his attention to the road—without answering my question.

“So, what exactly do you see differently?”

“I don’t know, Maggie. It’s hard to explain.” Frustration furled in his tone.

“If you try, you might realize it’s not that difficult.”

He pulled in a deep breath, his chest expanding with the inhalation. And when he blew it out, he seemed ready to start. “As soon as I met you, I could tell you were different, unlike anyone I’ve ever met. You’re innocent, and where I’m from, people like you don’t exist. If they do, they’re quickly corrupted and become the same as the rest of us.”

I waited patiently for him to continue. It was obvious he wasn’t done.

He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I guess it did something to me.”

“I’m not following, Talon.”

“When someone like you looks at someone like me and you don’t see a piece of shit…it means something. It made me want to be better, to be the person you see so I don’t prove you wrong. Which is probably why I was so harsh yesterday—because I won’t be able to handle it if I let either of us down with my own stupidity. In the end, I only made shit worse for you.”

I touched his forearm, needing him to stop. “I don’t understand. How do I look at you?”

“It’s not really the way you look at me as much as how you act. How you give me the benefit of the doubt, or how you trust me even when you have absolutely no reason to. Without even knowing my name, you let me take care of your eyebrow behind a locked door in a men’s bathroom. And whether or not you were desperate, you got in my car and let me drive you out of town—to a motel where we shared a room.”

“Yeah…probably not smart choices.”

His expression softened when one corner of his mouth lifted in a lazy smirk. “No, they weren’t, but regardless, they affected me. Normally, if I picked up a woman at a gas station and took her to a hotel, we wouldn’t get any sleep. And come the next morning, we’d never see each other again.”

That didn’t surprise me. He was hot. Sexy as hell. His voice was enough to melt panties and spread legs. Just by looking at him, I could tell in less than a second that he could have any girl he wanted—and more than likely did. However, that wasn’t how he acted. Or, at least, not to me. And I only hoped that if I continued to listen, I’d learn why.

“But you’re nothing like those women. Maybe it’s because you needed something more than a fun night. Maybe it’s because you were literally running from your life—not hiding from it and using sex as a way to escape. In the end, it doesn’t matter, because for some reason, you saw in me someone you could trust to get you out of there. And because of that, I drew a line in the sand to keep me from doing something that could take all that away.”

“That’s why you freaked out when I said something about your body?”

He shrugged and turned to the side. It was like he either didn’t want to tell me, or he wasn’t sure how to be vulnerable enough to explain it. Or maybe, the idea of opening up embarrassed him. And just like last time, after a moment to collect his thoughts, he took a deep breath and readied himself to continue.

“God, Maggie,” he said on a rushed exhale. “This is going to sound really stupid and make me look like such a piece of shit.”

“Um, Talon? After last night, I have no room to judge anyone.”

At least it made him laugh—it was under his breath, but a laugh all the same. “Okay, fine. Just remember that I no longer feel this way…got it?”

“Yup. Carry on.”

“When you made that comment yesterday in the car, I assumed you were into me and possibly hinting to take things further. So I needed to set some boundaries, because at some point, I would’ve forgotten all about doing the right thing.”

“Let me see if I got this right.” I kept my tone light and teasing for fear he’d shut the conversation down if he thought I was judging him. “You’re used to women throwing themselves at you, and when I didn’t, that somehow made you decide to become a better person?”

“You’re making me sound like a fucking pansy.”

“Wait. I’m not done.”

“No.” His tone was harsh, though when he turned my way, a lazy smile hung on his lips. “Let me explain that part before you continue making me out to be a little bitch. Okay?” He waited for me to close my mouth and nod. “Tony was the only person who has ever taken one look at me and given me the benefit of the doubt. And honestly, he didn’t have any reason to. I was a punk. I hung out with shady people, I drank, I partied, I fucked anything willing. I stole. I cheated. I beat the shit out of people for looking at me wrong. He had no reason to trust me. Yet he did. And apparently, all I needed was someone to give me a chance.”

“A chance for what?”

“To prove myself wrong.” He shook his head and, as if correcting himself, he added, “To prove everyone wrong.”

“About what, though?”

“My dad skipped town when I was a baby. My mom was a junkie. Half the time, I went to school in dirty clothes and had to go days without a shower because our water was shut off. It didn’t matter that I was just a kid and had no control over any of that, because people didn’t see it that way. They assumed that because I grew up around it, I’d continue the cycle. And at some point, I stopped trying to prove them wrong, because I realized I never would. I could’ve done everything by the book, never touched a single drug, never hung out with a bad crowd, and guess what? They still would’ve seen me as a piece of shit.”

“But Tony didn’t.”

He swallowed hard, and instantly, his stiff shoulders relaxed and he unclenched his jaw. “No, he didn’t. And I guess, that was all I needed—someone to come along and give me an opportunity to do better, to be the person I might’ve become had I not been born into that life. He didn’t have to do that, yet he did. It didn’t matter if no one else ever saw the good in me, because all I needed was one person—one honest person—to see past the shell and to the core. And then he died…and I didn’t have that anymore.”

“Your friends don’t think you’re more than a piece of shit?”

He tossed his head back and barked out a laugh of irony. “They came from the same place I did—or worse. They don’t see me any differently than what they see in a mirror, and trust me, they don’t have very high opinions of themselves. So, no, I didn’t want to be better simply because you didn’t throw yourself at me when we first met. It’s because you looked at me like I was worth something. For some unknown reason, you trusted me. You gave me a chance to either prove Tony right, or prove everyone else right.”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever learned of someone’s reaction to meeting me, and this one about did me in. Thinking back to a couple of nights ago when I literally ran into him at the gas station, I wasn’t sure what I had done to make him feel this way about himself, despite his explanation. Either way, I was just content to hear that I had been able to offer him something in return for the kindness he’d shown me. And now that I had a much clearer understanding of who he was as a person and what made him tick, I refused to stop until I had all the pieces to his puzzle.

“Okay, I can understand that.” I contemplated how to word my next question without offending him while I had him so open. “So, because you believed I was hitting on you, you set boundaries to keep me from…tempting you into doing what you’ve always done with women?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“All right…so I guess my first question would be, why would you say in one breath that I’m different from the girls who throw themselves at you, yet in the next, you needed to draw a line in the sand because you assumed I would sleep with you the first chance I got?”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if having a hard time putting his answer into words. Finally, he blew out a harsh exhale and sank further into his seat. “There’s no way to say this without possibly pissing you off or making you hate me.”

Well, if that didn’t pique my interest… “Good, now you don’t have to try to sugarcoat it.”

He peered at me for a split second with a smile and hoarse laughter vibrating his lips. “I pegged you for the type who wouldn’t turn me down if I made a move, but I didn’t think you would get the ball rolling first. Shy, timid—call it whatever you want. In my mind, if I didn’t initiate it, it wouldn’t happen because you’d never bring it up.”

“Fair enough. And I neither hate you nor am I pissed off.”

His brows pinched together as he fought to pay attention to me and the road at the same time. “You’re not?”

“No…why would I be?”

“Um, because I just said I expected you to sleep with me if I gave you the option.”

I rolled my eyes and bit back a giggle. “I’m sure you feel that way about every girl, so it’s really not that big of a deal. You can think that all you want, doesn’t mean you’re right.” He was totally right, but after all this, I wasn’t about to admit that to him. “However, I’m still confused.”

“About what?”

“You said something about how last night changed your mind.”

“No,” he corrected, dragging the word out. “I said it made me see things differently.”

“Yeah, and I’m still waiting on that. Are you saying you no longer think I’d have sex with you? Or does that mean you no longer care about the line in the sand?”

For some reason, my questions made him fidget in his seat. A growl rumbled in his chest and he appeared to have a hard time slowing his breathing. “It just made me realize that I’m wasting whatever time I have with you worrying about what might happen and how to stop it.”

“Again…” I refused to let this go until I had a full understanding of his motives. “Does this mean you don’t care about stopping it? If so, just tell me. You won’t freak me out or anything. I just need to know what to expect so I don’t do or say anything else that’ll make you uneasy.”

“It’s not that. I guess what you said last night got me thinking.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “I said a lot of things last night.”

“True, but the thing that really stuck out to me was how two people can flirt and have fun, joke around, make inappropriate comments, and not wind up in bed together. I’ve never experienced that before.”

“We did end up in bed together.” I could hardly contain my grin.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah…I just wasn’t sure if we were going to ignore it, pretend it never happened.”

“Kinda hard to do that, sweetheart. I’ve never done that before.”

“You’ve never slept in the same bed with a female without having sex?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never dated, and I’ve never had female friends. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever given a girl the time of day unless something was in it for me—and trust me, there isn’t a whole lot of flirting involved.”

“You mean…you tell a girl she’s got a nice set of jugs and her clothes magically fall off and your dick is instantly inside her?”

He covered the dark scruff on his face with his bear-like paw while his shoulders jumped with the humor rolling through him. “Something like that,” he said once he managed to calm down. “Basically, I’ve never had a reason to stop it once the opportunity presented itself. I’ve never been on my way from second to third base and needed to put on the brakes. If that makes sense.”

“Yeah…oddly enough, it does.” Normally, this kind of behavior would’ve turned me off, yet it didn’t with him. I couldn’t explain it. It was as if he were two different people—one was the product of his environment, and the other was his true self. And I couldn’t exactly condemn him for what he’d done in his past, especially when he so obviously tried to do better—even if it were just with me. “Any idea what will happen if…you know…it happens?”

“Can we both just promise to make an effort not to let it?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

His shoulders rose with his full inhalation, and immediately, he appeared lighter, less stressed…happier. As if eliminating the rules while leaving the endgame intact somehow relieved him of a hundred pounds of pressure.

“Does this mean I get to make comments about your body?”

With a slow-forming grin, he said, “Sure. Knock yourself out.”

“And if I want to touch you? Can I do that, too?”

“As long as it stays above the waist and is meant to be innocent, not provoking. Although, I think it’d be best if you tried not to. No matter how honorable my intentions are, I’m still a guy—who isn’t used to turning girls down.”

“Fair enough. I only asked because earlier, you held my hand. I wasn’t sure if physical contact had to be initiated by you, or if I had the option to do the same.”

This man had about a thousand different expressions, and over the last twenty-four hours, I’d seen most of them—betrayed, determined, what appeared to be sexually frustrated. And those were all before noon. Still, in all the ways he’d looked at me since the night we met, not once had I seen the goofy grin that lingered on his lips right now.

“I take it making out and changing in front of each other is out of the question?”

It might’ve made him laugh, yet I couldn’t ignore how tight his grip was on the steering wheel. “Yeah, you’ve assumed correctly. I think I’ve seen about as much of your body as I can handle.”

“Gee, Talon, it’s a mystery why you’ve never dated. How could anyone possibly resist your charm when you talk like that? It’s like…the nicest thing anyone could ever say to a girl.” It was far more sarcasm than hurt feelings, yet it’d be a lie if I said it hadn’t stung just a little.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he practically growled. “But please, don’t ask me to elaborate.”

At least that soothed the ache. “Can I ask you a different question, then?”

“Maybe…ask it anyway. Just don’t be surprised if I don’t answer.”

“Fine. What are your plans after you drop me off in Florida?”

He shrugged, clearly not expecting that to be what rolled off my tongue. “I’m not sure. I guess I don’t really have any.”

“Well, you might not be interested, but you’re welcome to stick around. I mean, you’ve said you don’t have anywhere to go, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to take me there and then run off.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.” He stared straight ahead, as if forcing himself not to make eye contact with me. I wasn’t sure if my offer had left him uncomfortable, although there didn’t seem to be any other explanation for why he’d zoned out.

“It’s not like you have to make a decision now or anything. We still have time. Who knows, a better offer might come along before we even get there, so…”

He reached over, and once again, he laced his fingers with mine. It was enough to make my heart hibernate in my throat. “It’s not about better offers, Maggie. You’re going there to be with your grandpa. I wouldn’t want to intrude on that.”

“You wouldn’t be. He’s old and isn’t really all there. Last I heard, the dementia had gotten so bad he doesn’t remember anything anymore. Honestly, I think it would be nice to have someone there. But I totally understand if you don’t stay. You offered to drive me to Florida, not move there to entertain me.”

He was quiet for a while, yet he never released his grip on my hand. It was as if he were holding onto me, afraid I’d float away if he let go. And I allowed it. Because I wasn’t ready for the feelings of isolation to return, and as long as he held onto me, I didn’t feel so alone.

* * *

We managed to drive another nine hours to a small town in Mississippi before we had to pull over. This time, the rain had forced us to stop. It came down so hard we couldn’t see a foot in front of us, and Talon thought it would be safer if we just found a place and stayed the night. It was only seven in the evening, and neither of us were tired or ready for bed.

“Didn’t you say we have to find sleazy motels to stay at?” I questioned when he pulled up to a place that appeared nicer than what we were used to. Granted, this was no Holiday Inn Select, but it didn’t look run-down or crawling with prostitutes, either.

“Yeah, except I can’t find any, and with as hard as it’s coming down, I’m worried about driving farther only to get lost and not be able to find my way back.”

“What if they ask for a credit card or something?”

He stared at the windshield as if he could see anything through the sheet of rain that made everything blurry. “I have the card we used at the shop. I doubt it’ll go through since the account’s in Tony’s name, but it’s worth a shot. If not, we’ll just have to sit in the car and wait for the weather to let up some.”

He told me to stay in the car and wait for him to come out—there was no sense in us both getting wet if they refused to give him a room. Needless to say, I didn’t argue. I sat alone in the car, watching the lights of the building move through the water, and chewed on my thumbnail while he was inside.

Thankfully, he didn’t make me wait long. He returned, quickly opened my door, and then we both ran for cover. “She was a really nice old lady. The card declined, but I told her I had cash and could pay up front. She must’ve felt bad for us being stuck in the rain, because she took it. Granted, she charged me a little more just in case we broke something.”

Talon opened the door to the room, and we both stood there, staring at the single bed.

“I guess I wasn’t very specific about what size room we needed.”

I laughed at him and shook my head. “Oh well, we can’t complain. At least it doesn’t smell like smoke, and the mattress looks twice the size of the ones we’ve been sleeping on. Not to mention, you didn’t have a problem being the big spoon last night.”

He rolled his eyes and then followed me inside. “Looks like they have cable, too. That’s a bonus. And when I was at the front desk, I noticed a bar. I hope they serve food. That way we won’t have to go anywhere in this weather to get something to eat.”

“See? Look at all the silver linings.”

“Actually, now that I mention food, I’m starving. Let me go down there to check if they serve dinner or if it’s just a bar. I’ll be back.” He took the key card and left, and part of me wondered if only having one bed made him uncomfortable.

As much as I would’ve liked to wait around for him to return, I couldn’t fight off the feelings of being cooped up. I’d been stuck in either a car or a motel room for the last couple of days, and if I didn’t escape soon, I’d likely lose my mind. Not to mention, there was no better time to be outside than when it rained. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something utterly peaceful about it, as though it would wash away my worries. After I found a space in the closet to hide my bag, I removed Talon’s hoodie to keep it from getting wet and then I left the room.

I didn’t go far, knowing Talon would freak out if he returned and I was gone, so I headed to the pool area, which was accessible from the parking lot. He’d have to pass it after leaving the bar, and even if he didn’t see me on his way out, I assumed he’d check there when he found the room empty.

Already soaking wet from the short walk, I fell into a lounge chair and allowed heaven’s tears to cleanse me.