Page 46 of The Hero Within
"You'd be tempted."
Eden stared into her fry pan as if it held all of the mysteries of the universe. "I'm a healer. You were hurt"—her voice dropped—"defending me. I'm trying to make amends."
This was weird. She'd been weird last night too. "Who are you, and what have you done with Eden McClain? Because I'm pretty sure the real version has been busting my balls for the past couple of days. Call me suspicious, but I'm not certain I trust this polite bullshit."
At all.
Eden tilted her closed eyes to the sky as if silently praying for strength, before she leveled a force-one glare on him. "I won't pretend I wanted you with us on this mission, but CJ was right. We wouldn't have made it this far without you. We both would have died, if not for you."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm sorry," she ground out.
"For what?"
"For busting your balls," she grumbled, looking like she'd rather be doing anything other than apologizing. "If I hadn't been such a bitch, you wouldn't have been hiding your wound."
This was territory he hadn't quite expected to stumble into. Johnny scratched at the stubble on his jaw. "It's not as though I would have told you I was injured anyway. It was just a—"
"If you say 'scratch,'" she growled, "I swear I shall commit an act of violence."
"Right."Fuck.What was he supposed to do?
People didn't apologize to him.
Especially not her, when he'd never be able to repay the debt he owed her.
"Stop looking at me like that," Johnny muttered, as she clearly searched for the right words to say. He shouldn't have said anything about Cane yesterday, but she'd caught him at a weak moment. The second she laid eyes on his back, she'd changed.
Eden's lashes hid her troubled green eyes. "I never.... I didn't realize you weren't with him of your own volition. I just thought—"
"Yeah, I get it."We are not delving back into that again. "How about we pretend last night didn't happen?"
"If we pretend last night didn't happen," she pointed out, "then I'm back to acting like a bitch."
"You weren't a bitch."This was the most awkward conversation of his life. He scraped a palm over the back of his neck. "I've done some pretty terrible things to the people you love. You have good cause to hate me. Ishotyour brother a couple of years ago."
Did it matter if he hadn't wanted to do any of them? Cane had merely ground Johnny's will beneath his heel like one of his fucking cigars.
His pulse flickered a beat at just the thought.
"Don't remind me. I'm focusing on the part where Adam survived. And on the part wherehewas going to shoot you, but you were quicker."
Johnny stared at her tense profile. "I'm sorry," he said roughly.I didn't want to do any of it."I know you probably don't want to hear it, but I am sorry, Eden. I never wanted to... hurt you."
Ever.
She glanced his way. "Thank you." Soft words. "I think I do need to hear that."
Silence.
A thick, awkward silence that was full of Cane, even if the questions in her eyes remained silent, as if she knew he'd refuse to talk about it.
Eden scraped chopped onion into the pan. "I've been thinking we should probably call a truce. While we're traveling together, anyway."
"Truce?"
"You know," she deadpanned. "I don't spit in your breakfast, and you don't call me 'angel.'"
