Page 40 of The Last True Hero
Twelve
THERE WAS SOMETHING wrong.
Mia nibbled on the quick of her thumb as she watched McClain and Ellie refill the water canteens from a stream he'd managed to locate in the middle of a winding canyon. She couldn't stop thinking about Jenny's words. The last thing she needed was to deal with the temptation McClain presented for her.Don’t pin your hope on a man.She'd put those rules in place for a reason. But Jenny spoke truth. What happened if she got shot? Would she be satisfied with her life if she looked back on it? That answer was a definite no.
Love fast, ride hard, and don't know regret.
Damn Jenny for planting that seed in her head. At least it kept her mind off darker matters, like her sister.
However, she might be the only one dwelling on that kiss and what it represented.
All morning McClain had been distant and focused, and there was definitely something going on between the two men. Jake looked like a dog watching another dog enter its territory. He tolerated McClain's presence, but he sure as shit wasn't welcoming him here, and he looked like he was just waiting for that other dog to attack.
What the hell happened last night?
The last time she'd seen him, McClain had given her that honey-slow smile of his that warmed his entire face. Now he was purely professional.
And the Jake that had been glued to McClain's side ever since they left Salvation Creek was long gone.
"What did you say to him?" she hissed in Jake's ear, the second she thought McClain and Ellie were far enough away not to hear. "What's going on?"
Jake shot her a look from beneath heavy lids. "I'm just watching out for you, Mia."
"You've got no right. Whatever's going on between McClain and me is none of your damned business."
"I know it isn't," he shot back. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to leave you out here for the vultures."
Mia drew back with a frown. McClain wasn't a vulture. But something had gone down between the two of them, and from the way they were both acting, it seemed an agreement had been reached.
"Focus on Sage," Jake told her, still looking grim. "He'll ride away after all this is done and not look back. I don't want to see you get your heart broken. I know you need something to hold on to right now, but he's not the one to do that for you. And I wish he were, Mia. I really do."
"And who else have I got?"
"You've got people who love you," he replied firmly. "Your sister, Jenny... me." Jake's lips pursed. "I wish... I wish I could say more, but keep in mind that I'm only looking out for your best interests. This has nothing to do with what happened between you and me. I promise you that. Can you trust me on this one?"
Swallowing down that little knot of anger in her chest, she patted him on the back. "Just stay out of my love life, Jake."
And then she headed toward McClain.
* * *
"Let's talk," McClain said. "About how to get into Rust City safely."
Mia looked up from the sleeping kit she was rolling. She, Ellie, and Jake had snatched a couple of hours sleep that afternoon. It had been a long day of travel, with barely any of them speaking to each other. She ached to get going again, now that they were so close to Rust City, but McClain insisted. Tired minds made mistakes, and Rust City twinkled in the desert below like a junkyard out in the sun. They all needed to be at their best. "What's the plan? We're three bounty hunters looking for a way to get rich quick...."
"With one slave," Ellie said, looking like she faced down a firing squad.
"You're not going to like it, Ellie." McClain knelt down at Mia’s side on the small ledge overlooking the plains below. Tired lines fanned around his eyes, and his cheeks bore evidence of several hard days’ ride. Funny how the scruff along his jaw was several shades darker than that on his head. In the sun she could almost see strands of gold in his short-cropped hair.
Ellie bit her lip, zipping her duffel shut. "I don't have to like it, McClain. If it gets me closer to Thea...."
There wasn't a great deal that any of them wouldn't do.
McClain sighed, then reached inside his coat and dragged out a leather circlet. When he shook it out, Mia realized it was the slave collar with silver links fastened into the leather so that a chain could be clipped there.
Women were commodities in the slave towns, unless they'd managed to earn their reputations, and some of those particular women were just as dangerous as the men.
Reaching out, Mia brushed her quivering fingertips against the leather. It made her feel sick just to touch it.
