Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“You reek of desperation, McKenna,” she admonished herself beneath her breath.
She contemplated the wisdom of changing into something a little more modest. But the thought of exposing even more skin to these damned bloodthirsty midges was unbearable.
She swatted at her neck and wondered how long this would take. Smith hadn’t given her a time estimation. But she was certain she would literally die if she stayed in this car much longer. The temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees, but it was hard to tell from within this furnace.
She would have to open her door. She couldn’t…
Wait. What was that?
She stopped breathing and tilted her head, not sure of what she’d just heard.
She cautiously opened the car door and leaned out, trying to hear above the noise of the cicadas.
Yes! There it was! A car engine, still some distance away but getting closer. She got out of the car and squeaked in excitement at the very welcome sight of the telltale dust trail in the distance. Definitely a vehicle of some sort coming toward her from the direction of the highway.
The car drew close enough for Kenny to hear the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires and then it crested the rise into her line of sight about five hundred yards away.
A smile of sheer relief bloomed on her face and she waved at the as-yet unknown driver. The car stopped a couple of lengths from hers, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that hadn’t settled by the time the driver’s door opened.
She couldn’t see much beyond the impression of height and width through the dust as the man strode toward her.
The voice that berated her was immediately familiar though. “I thought I told you to stay in the fucking car, McKenna.”
Chapter
Six
“Smith?” Kenny squawked in disbelief. She truly hadn’t believed he would bother coming for her himself.
She could finally see him clearly, tall, lean, arms folded across his chest as he glowered at her through the settling dust.
“I didn’t think you’d come yourself,” she said, completely unnerved by his appearance. She’d resigned herself to not seeing him again for a long time, if ever, and now here he was. Larger than life, looking pissed off and seriously sexy at the same time.
“I wasn’t about to send Harris to deal with my business by himself.”
His words belatedly alerted her to the fact that he wasn’t alone. Harris Chapman—Smith’s best friend and brother-in-law—was exiting the passenger side of the Land Rover.
The man rounded the front of the vehicle and stood shoulder to shoulder with Smith. The two men, equally tall, both extremely good looking, were a striking pair. And presenting an unmistakably united front.
Smith had brought reinforcements. Kenny wasn’t sure if she was aghast or amused by that realization.
“McKenna.” Harris was wearing reflective sunglasses and didn’t bother to remove them. There was no hint of warmth in the man’s greeting. Just an austere nod.
“Harris.” Kenny mustered up a smile for the man. “Thank you for coming.”
He dipped his chin, still unsmiling. “Smith asked me to.”
“Of course.” They all stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before Kenny took a couple of steps to the side and gestured toward her car. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. If you could just, um, help me out of this little predicament, I’ll be on my way.”
Smith made a deep growling sound in the back of his throat before closing the distance between them and grabbing hold of her arm unexpectedly.
“Why are you limping?” The question was sharp and shot at her in a raised voice.
Startled by both the urgency in his voice as well as his firm grip on her arm, Kenny stared silently into his eyes for a fraught moment before gathering her scattered senses.
“Oh…my foot. It’s nothing.” The lie was automatic as she defaulted to her usual setting of minimizing what she felt around Smith.
Kenny shut her eyes for a brief moment and shook her head impatiently, irritated with herself. This entire trip may well be an exercise in futility, but the least she could do was keep the promises she’d made to herself. One of which was to let people in. To stop pretending that she was capable of handling every single thing in her life by herself.
“That’s not true.” She saw a flicker of shock in his beautiful ice-green eyes at that admission. “I think I broke or sprained my big toe, actually.”
At her words, the surprise in his gaze morphed into something resembling concern.
“What?” he snapped. “How in hell did you do that, Kenna? Did you fall while you were traipsing around the semi-arid landscape looking for a signal?”
“What are you doing?” she asked, when her feet were swept out from under her and her world went spinning as he lifted her into his arms. He ignored her question and—despite the earlier curtness in his voice—handled her with extreme care as he deposited her sideways onto the passenger side of his Land Rover. He stood next to the door, right in front of her, crowding her a little.