Page 54 of Rescued Hearts

When his gaze fell on Honor’s profile, the sweep of long waves drawn into a thick ponytail at the base of her neck, his heart gave a small squeeze. She had no idea how far he would go to protect her.

Felicity looked up at him, blue eyes eloquent even from the shadow of a baseball cap she wore to keep her own hair off her face. In that split second, they traded a look.

She knows how I feel.

He gave her a subtle nod of acknowledgement, and Honor pushed her chair back to gain her feet. “Are you finally finished checking out the security around this place? Might need to add some ninjas to the front door or something.”

“Thought about it.” His dry tone brought a soft smile to her lips, and he couldn’t resist the upward tug of his own.

“You ladies ready?” he asked.

Felicity stood too and carried their mugs to the sink. Both of them had donned jeans and sturdy boots as he instructed them to. While the sisters were creative types, Honor was definitely more of a free spirit in appearance than Felicity. The white and butter yellow floaty top with an embroidered daisy pattern told a different story than Felicity’s denim top with a couple vintage patches sewn on it.

He led the way out, careful to lock up behind him and scan the street for any sign of the ex. The drive to the shooting range was a short one, but the day was enjoyable, crisp and sunny.

“The wind is low today—good for shooting.”

In the passenger seat, Honor threw him a glance. “Is it a good idea to arm us? Shouldn’t we leave this up to the law?”

He compressed his lips. “If it were my own family members, I would want them to know how to defend themselves.”

“After meeting your sister, I’m sure she is capable of defending herself.”

He ducked his head in a nod. “She’s tough. Gotta be with six brothers.”

“And you have sisters-in-law.”

“Three of ’em. There’s a wedding soon.”

“How exciting.”

He snorted. “Guess you could say that. The last wedding was a trip.”

“Why is that?”

“The couple got married twice.”

“That sounds like a good story.”

“One I’ll tell you another day.” Under the circumstances, he wasn’t about to share that the reason his brother Oaks first married Shiloh was to rescue her from an arranged marriage.

But it all worked out in the end, with the couple falling head over heels in love. They were crazy about each other, and every time he turned a corner, he expected to run into any one of his three brothers in some state of entanglement with the women they loved.

Falling silent, he threw an occasional sideways glance at Honor. They’d only been on one date. And sex was just sex.

Or was it? When he thought about what he felt when he took her, he couldn’t find anything to compare to the feelings she roused in him.

Once they were at the shooting range, he took a lot of time giving Honor and Felicity instructions. By the time they wereready to take their first shot, Felicity had dropped her arms from her nervous pose and Honor had the flush of color that had been missing since this all began back in her freckled cheeks.

He held out a pistol in his palm. “Either of you guys ever shoot before?”

“No,” they said in unison.

“Good. I won’t have to break any of your bad habits.”

Honor cocked a brow. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“It means you’ll listen to instruction. That’s a good start.”

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