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darkness and into the shadow of half-light.
    "I've been waiting."
    Micah jerked as though startled by the sound of his voice. She turned quickly to face
     him, and Chance could feel his heart tighten, his loins quicken. Damn her that she should have that kind of hold over him.
    "Chance," she whispered and stepped back as he came closer.
    He hated seeing the wariness creep across her face.
    "Why are you here?" she rushed on suddenly as he walked deliberately toward her.
    "Why?" he asked, still walking until he stopped less than an arm's length away. "What
     do you think? Go ahead, Micah, go ahead and say it. Tell me why I'm here."
    Chance could see the changes click in one by one. The way she began to breathe faster,
     the wariness in her eyes changing to a darker shade of emerald, as though she were
     responding already against her will.
    "We both know why you're here," she finally said. "And it's impossible." She took
     a protective step back toward the door.
    "Stop it," he commanded. "Just stop what you're doing right now." His voice came out harsher than he meant it to as he gripped her wrist and pulled
     her toward him.
    Micah did stop. She went very still. Only her face was animated, and it was the fear
     in it that goaded Chance to smash the defenses she was throwing up faster than he
     could hurdle them.
    He let her wrist go only to lay his hands over the soft ripple of muscle beneath her
     upper arms.
    "Quit running from me, Micah. Quit running from yourself. That's the coward's way
     out, ma cher. You said you wanted to stand on your own two feet. Well, go ahead. Do it. Prove to
     us both that you're tough, brave. Face the truth for once, the truth about us. Cards
     on the table, Micah. The stakes are high, so take your best shot."
    Micah flinched at the analogy, and Chance cursed softly under his breath for not choosing
     better.
    She seemed to steady herself then, something coming into her eyes he hadn't seen before—the
     same something he had heard in her voice when she'd told Elliot where he could take
     it. A certain self-possession and determination.
    "All right," she said, her voice coming out stronger than before.
    "You scare me. Chance," she blurted out suddenly. "The way you're touching me scares
     me. I don't like where I've been. I'm not sure where I'm going. All I know is, you're
     dangerous and you have cause to resent me. You want the truth? All right you've got
     it. You've hurt me before, Chance, and maybe I've even done the same to you. Only
     I'm not willing to take the risk of it happening again. So let me be. If you care
     for me, you'll do that."
    Chance hesitated, wanting her, needing her. He couldn't back off, especially not now.
    "I care for you," he murmured in an even tone. "Enough that I want to help. Give me
     a chance to prove it, Micah. Don't I deserve that much?" He waited for an answer,
     but she stayed quiet. "Or am I so vile you're not even willing to give me that? Still
     the bad boy of New Orleans trying to corrupt the most innocent little rich girl in
     the parish?"
    "No," she said quickly.
    "No?" he repeated with obvious disbelief.
    "It was always you, Chance. You made sure I didn't forget the differences between
     us when we were growing up. And maybe the differences are even greater now that you've
     established yourself. I'm still unfashionably 'wholesome' as you once put it. But
     I've never treated you as though you weren't good enough. So don't try to push that off on me."
    "You're right," he said reluctantly. "I admit that wasn't fair."
    "Then can you admit you still resent me? I still feel it sometimes, Chance. Not as
     much as when you first came back, but I sense it's still there."
    He nodded. "Let's talk about it, Micah. About us. Where we went wrong, what's keeping
     us apart. Talk to me. Don't be afraid of me anymore... Please."
    He must have gotten through to her somehow, because Micah swayed toward him and he
     drew her closer, almost against his chest, but not