Page 80 of Last Resort

“Because you deserve better than that.”

“Such a good man. You know that, don’t you? What a good man you are? That’s why I’ve fallen for you.” She emits a soft chuckle that falls off and her breath evens out.

I swear I stop breathing for a second. She’s drunk. It’s the alcohol talking, and I’m just being a nice guy so she’s mistaking that feeling of comfort for more.

You can explain it away any which way you want, Callahan, but those words just slipped past her lips. Words that come on the heels of so much more blatant honesty that it’s pretty damn hard to ignore them.

Hell, if my pulse isn’t racing right now, and my mouth isn’t suddenly dry.

“Thank you, Callahan.” Her words slur as she presses a soft kiss to the side of my neck. “For making me realize to never settle again.”

I open my mouth to speak, but fuck. Emotions, thoughts, bullshit thunder through me in a confusing eddy that leave me speechless. And as I struggle with what to say, a soft snore slips from her mouth and saves me the trouble.

It’s hard to brush it under the rug in true Sharpe fashion when her warm body is still lying on top of me and her words are front and center.

For making me realize to never settle again.

Sutton Pierce.

That’s why I’ve fallen for you.

She talks like she’s this weak woman, but all I’ve seen from her is strength. Talk about the queen of contradictions. Sexy and defiant but a little bit broken underneath.

Aren’t we all, Cal? Aren’t you?

My sigh is heavy because the answer is yes, but mine is self-inflicted and hers was at the hand of another.

So is that what this is all about? This game? The need to know another man isn’t going to screw her over before she gives more of herself?

Christ. Is that what I do? Screw women over and make them feel like the slimy fucker Clint did? I scrub a hand over my face and then rest it on her bare thigh that’s draped over mine.

No. No fucking way. I don’t promise shit—more, forever, happily ever after—anything of the sort. I don’t demean. I don’t belittle. I give pleasure. I walk away.

And yet, her words make me question my actions when I’ve never questioned them before.

What’s in it for me?

Is this her way to get some of the pieces back? The ones he stole and ruined? To own who she is and the sexuality he shamed her for?

Is that the answer to her question?

What’s in it for me?

Is the answer her? That she finds herself again?

I chew the inside of my cheek and listen to the silence scream.

To my thoughts whispering quietly inside that scream.

And I know I don’t want that to be the right answer.

That it can’t be.

Because I’m pretty certain that once Sutton Pierce finds herself, she’ll be gone to me.

She’ll know her worth, she’ll own it, and she’ll know without a doubt that a guy like me, who doesn’t make promises, isn’t worth her salt.

She wants . . . deserves a man who stays. Who knows how to commit with his whole heart. And that man is not me. I can’t let Sutton think that I’m up for her challenge.