Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I think we should get out.”
Nodding, I remembered my purse as Callie grabbed her backpack and we bailed. I wasn’t even going to pretend to look under the hood because I was clueless about cars.
“I’ll call Regan,” I said as an SUV coming toward us slowed.
“Isn’t that Walker’s car?” Callie asked. Her face lit up. “That is Walker!” She waved her arms, hailing him.
Great.
Two rescues in one day?
Wearing his perpetually handsome stone-faced expression, Walker slowly drove his SUV onto our side of the road and parked in front of my dead car. I tried to ignore the flutter in my belly as he stepped out of the vehicle with those long legs. While I liked the black suit that made him look more like a billionaire playboy than a security guard, I liked his off-work uniform of tees and jeans more. His T-shirts were always tight at the biceps, and I had a thing for his arms. Especially his forearms. They were all strong and veiny. He had great hands too. Long fingers, big knuckles. I’d imagined those hands on my body more times than I cared to admit.
God, I needed help.
Trying not to ogle him, I gave Walker a wide smile that I didn’t feel like giving anybody. But for Callie’s sake, I was going to pretend like our car dying was not a big deal. It was a huge deal. I did not know how I’d pay for repairs. The butterflies Walker inspired turned to anxious knots.
“We meet again,” I said breezily.
Walker’s gaze drifted over me and Callie as if inspecting us for injury. “What happened?”
Callie shrugged emphatically. “It started jerking and then it died.”
He looked at me.
I shrugged too. “What Cal said. I was going to call Regan, but you showed first. If you’re on your way somewhere …” Was he on his way to one of his casual dates?
“It’s not a problem.” He whipped out his cell from his ass pocket, hit a button, and held it to his ear. “Joe, it’s Walk … aye, look, I need you to send a recovery vehicle to the A949 just outside Caelmore. A friend’s car has broken down.” He gave Joe, whom I had a sneaking suspicion was Joe the head mechanic at Ardnoch, my car details.
Crap.
As soon as he hung up, I spoke before he could. “You didn’t have to do that. I could have called for a recovery vehicle.”
“It’s done.” Walker gestured toward his SUV. “Jump in. I’ll take you home.”
Being stuck in proximity again with him so soon after he’d basically rejected my offer for “cake” on Saturday did not appeal to me. “We really don’t—”
“Sloane.”
I clamped my lips shut at the stern way he said my name.
Fine. For Callie’s sake, I wouldn’t argue over accepting his help.
I muttered thanks under my breath as I passed him, and I could have sworn I heard him snort. But when I looked back at him, his face was expressionless.
As I climbed into the passenger seat of Walker’s very nice Range Rover, I glanced behind me at Callie to make sure she was settled. Walker got in and closed his door. “Everyone belted in?” he asked.
“Callie?” I grinned at her smile as she put on her seat belt and then shimmied in her seat.
“This is comfy,” she declared.
I shot Walker a look and saw the handsome bastard was almost smiling. Why was it only my kid who could crack his hard veneer? Why did he never shoot that smirk my way?
“Uh, my backpack’s zipper’s stuck,” Callie said as Walker did a U-turn.
“We’ll unstick it when we get home.”
“I need a drink.”
“Now? You can’t wait ten minutes?”
“Not really.”
Sighing, I unclipped my belt and stretched between the front seats to look at her backpack.
“Careful,” Walker murmured.
“Yeah, will be,” I assured him as I huffed, trying to squeeze through enough to yank on the zipper. Unsuccessful, I released it back to Callie. “I’ll look at it when we get home.”
Please, please be fixable. I just bought that backpack.
As I tried to unwedge my shoulders from between the passenger and driver’s seat, I caught my boobs against Walker’s hard shoulder and sucked in a breath at the contact.
His eyes shot to mine for a few seconds, and there was a look of such heat in them, I froze like a deer in headlights. Blood rushed to my ears.
Then he looked away just as abruptly, and when he glanced at me again, the heat had been replaced by indifference. And there I was imagining things again, like Walker giving me sexy eyes.
Disappointed, I settled back into my seat and clipped myself in.
“I’ll look at your bag,” Walker said to Callie in the rearview mirror.
If I’d been a fanciful sort, I would’ve said his voice was gruffer than usual. But this was Walker Ironside. I was beginning to think I could walk around naked in front of him and he wouldn’t even blink.