Page 16 of Last Resort

But he’d agreed. He’d stand by his word and make sure she was as prepared as she could be.

Unused to the extra time, he picked up a cup of coffee for himself, adding a tea for Maci at the last minute. She could heat it up later if she wanted.

He’d rented a private room from his favorite local boxing gym. It was quiet and familiar, which was what he needed when it came to being around Maci. Being in the office with her was tough enough, but here there would be no brothers holding him back from saying things he should leave in the past.

There would be no offices to shut himself in to stop himself from demanding once again why she’d called their relationship off with no explanation.

It would just be the two of them and a few layers of cotton and Lycra separating skin from skin.

It was going to be torture.

When Maci walked through the doors, Chance could already tell she was distracted. Bloodshot eyes and bite-chapped lips were framed by messy hair, like she’d shoved her hands through it endlessly.

He caught her at the door and led her toward their training room. “How’d your appointment go? Find out anything interesting?”

Her blue eyes grew wide. “Wh-what?”

“Your doctor’s appointment. Your sickness? Are you okay to move forward with this plan?”

“Oh.” She forced a laugh. “I’m fine. Just a little...upset stomach. Doctor gave me a little nausea medicine, which should help.”

She was lying or at least wasn’t telling the full truth. He’d been studying that beautiful face and those cobalt eyes for way too long not to recognize it.

Maci was stubborn as hell and didn’t like to talk about her feelings. She was blowing him off; nothing he said was going to get her to share what was really going on.

He should be used to her shutting him out by now, but he wasn’t. The best he could do was ignore the burn of the slice. “Good. Then let’s get you warmed up and ready to go. I got you some tea if you need it.”

He led her through his favorite stretches, letting her modify them when they agitated her sensitive stomach and making a note to avoid touching that part of her body if at all possible. He wanted to train her, not make things worse.

The stretching should’ve helped her relax, but by the time he got her on the floor stretching her hips, she was nearly vibrating with stress.

“Maci, have you changed your mind? There’s no problem if you have.” There was nothing he’d like more.

“No, I haven’t changed my mind.” She shook her head, leaning forward to stretch her hamstrings, keeping her face averted.

He didn’t like that she felt like she had to hide herself from him. A thought struck him and he had to swallow down the lump in his throat before he could verbalize it.

Finally, he pushed the words out. “Would you like someone else to train you? If you’re uncomfortable with me being here, we can swap Luke or Weston out.”

It would gut him to do it, but her safety was the most important thing. If she would be more comfortable with someone else, Chance needed to step aside.

“No. It’s fine. I just... I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“If you’re sure—”

“I am. I want you to train me, Chance. I trust you.” Her blue eyes pinned him.

Something eased inside him. She trusted him. She had no idea how much that meant. Hell, he’d hardly understood how much that meant until the words had come out of her mouth.

He walked her through the final stretches and warm-ups before she stood there catching her breath and waiting for instructions.

“Before we get started, let’s level your expectations. I’m not going to teach you to fight.”

Her face screwed up in an adorable frown. “Why not?”

“We don’t have the time to get you to a comfortable proficiency with fighting. That means your goal is always going to be getting to safety. Survival is always the most important thing. Say it.”

“Survival is always the most important thing.”

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