Page 20 of Rescued Hearts

He hesitated before he spoke again, softening his stance. “Listen, I don’t know your story, but I know what it looks like when someone is afraid.”

She bristled, straightening her spine. “I’m not afraid.”

He cocked his head, watching her. “Then what are you?”

For a moment, she didn’t answer. Her gaze flickered toward the street, to the cars, to the faces passing by.

Finally, she let out a breath, her shoulders curling forward around the packages in her arms. “I don’t know.”

Gray nodded. He’d seen this before. People facing things that were too big to put into words. Someone trying to convince themself they weren’t in over their head.

He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“You have anyone watching your back?”

Her gaze rocketed back to his. “I can take care of myself.”

She hesitated a fraction of a heartbeat as if weighing her options. She either faced her ex or the unknown—which was Gray.

“You planning to stay in the area or are you just visiting?”

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, the vapor of vulnerability replaced by the steel of determination.

“I’m still thinking about it.” She darted another wary glance at the street. She was trying to put down roots—or outrun someone.

“I’ll walk you back inside the post office.”

She looked down at the packages she gripped against her chest like a protective shield. “I think I’ll mail my things another time. I’ve got to get to the bookstore. I’m running a workshop.”

He searched her expression for signs that she might be lying to him but didn’t see a tell in those blue eyes or a crease in her clear skin. “What kind of workshop?”

His questions were beginning to relax her. Getting her talking was normalizing her day after what she’d seen.

“I have a small business designing, creating and selling jewelry. My sister thought it would be nice to introduce me to her customers. She’s got tons of books on crafting and the history of jewelry that I’m sure will draw sales for her too.”

Looking at the woman in her flowing dress with flowers embroidered around the neck and the multi-colored toenail polish, he wasn’t surprised to hear what she did for a living.

“I’ll walk you to the bookstore.”

“That’s not necessary.”

He stepped closer to her for reasons he didn’t quite understand. This woman was trouble. And he was already in too deep.

Staring down, he took in her striking face, a face that made a man look twice.

“I’ll come with you,” he said firmly, then added a quirk of a smile to soften his demand. “Making jewelry sounds great. I was thinking about taking up a hobby.”

Chapter Six

Honor’s hands shook as she balanced the packages in her arms. Her stomach pitched into yet another nosedive for the tenth time since she left the post office.

Sully couldn’t be here.

It had to be a van just like his. Manufacturers didn’t only put out only one of each model, after all. The world was full of people who drove the same vehicle.

Her mind kept returning to the face she thought she saw behind the windshield. It was just a trick of the eye. Something she saw simply because she was expecting it. A shadow that vaguely resembled her ex.

But the gripping fear in her gut that made her bolt out of the post office wasn’t so easily brushed aside.

---