Page 5 of Wild Hearts

“For a little while.”

I catch a shadow of movement and open my eyes and gasp.

God, he’s beautiful.

He’s tall, maybe six foot three, and built with muscles in all the right places. Light brown hair with a full beard. Josh sets me down, throwing his arm over my shoulders and turns toward the stranger.

“Mick, this is my sister Shane. Shane, this is Mick.”

McKenzie. Aiden McKenzie.

I’ve seen photos of this man from Josh on his infrequent trips home, but he almost always kept his face hidden. Photos do not do him justice. Seeing him in the flesh makes my skin heat.

I step forward out of Josh’s hold and reach for Mick’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

His beard has a red tint. I don’t know why I notice that, but I do and it makes him even sexier.

“All good things, I hope,” he teases with a wink, sliding his hand into mine.

His shake is firm, hands calloused from years of work.

God, that’s sexy.

“Depends on who did the talking. Your mother loves to talk you up, Striker though…” I trail off. “It might be hit or miss.”

He drops my hand, rubbing the back of his neck as they both laugh.

“I should probably apologize for my mother. She can be a little… extra, as my sister Autumn likes to say.”

“Not going to lie, I kind of love your mother. She makes me laugh when she calls. Makes me miss my own mama.” I look away from Mick at Striker. “How long until whatever you’re making will be ready? I need a shower and to fix the back fence.”

“Long day?” he asks.

“You have no idea. Some guy booked to check out some caves with his girlfriend. Only when they got to the shop and saw we could take them on a hike to the falls, they wanted to do that instead. Which would be fine if they were wearing anything other than sneakers and have walked more than across a mall in their entire lives.” I roll my eyes. “They wanted to try something ‘outdoorsy’ and all I wanted to say is go back to Denver.”

“Those people are the worst.” Josh grimaces.

“I don’t know how you do it, deal with people all day. It sounds like a nightmare.” Mick’s deep voice draws my eyes back to him.

“Well, someone’s got to take one for the team where this one” —I point at Josh— “decided to go play ‘take out the enemy’ in foreign countries.” I give a playful glare.

Truth is, as much as I miss him, I’m also incredibly proud of him. He’s doing something he believes in while keeping the rest of us safe. I willneverbe mad at him for that.

“You should have a good thirty minutes, but if it’s done before, we can wait for you. Take your time,” Josh says, slapping the counter.

“Sounds good. You two have fun,” I call over my shoulder, heading for the stairs.

I stop when his deep voice calls out to me.

“Hey, Shane? Don’t worry about the fence. It’s already fixed.”

I shiver as his voice washes over me.

I’m so shaken that when I reply my voice cracks. “Thanks, Mick.”

I hustle through my room and into my master bath. I don’t even have time to enjoy how beautiful it looks since I renovated it. Instead, I dash into the large shower and turn it on to heat. Turning around, I get my first look in the mirror since this morning and hiss.

My hair needed to be washed two days ago, and the messy bun looks less than lifeless. There’s a dirt smudge straight across my chest on my white tank.

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