Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Harlow knew he didn’t give his attention to anyone else. She had watched him closely when he was in Knightly with Rainier and the others. He didn’t look at women, although if he was in the bar or coffee shop, the café, it didn’t matter where, there was always someone flirting with him. He brushed them off, or sometimes, he didn’t deign to notice them. But he always noticed her. She knew he was aware of her the moment she walked into a room, just as she was always aware of him.
“Stop shaking your head. It would be different if you weren’t every bit as attracted to me as I am to you. And not just physically. I’d walk away, Harlow, but you’re just scared to trust anyone. You’ll learn I’m trustworthy.”
She ducked her head to avoid the intensity of his gaze. “It isn’t about you, Wilder. I’m incapable of a relationship. I’d mess it up very quickly. It’s called self-sabotage, but I’d convince myself it’s self-preservation.”
“Harlow, I’m just going to tell you this one more time, and then it’s all about showing you. I’m not going anywhere. You can try to mess it up—I expect that from you. You’re going to run like a little rabbit. But I’m a hunter, babe, and we’re right for each other. If we weren’t, we’d already be with someone else. I don’t have any desire to be with anyone else, and I never have. I’m betting it’s the same for you.”
He was right about her. She hadn’t ever seen a man she wanted to spend time with—until Wilder. She had no idea why it was him, but there was no one else.
“Then knock yourself out, Wilder.” She made it an exasperated challenge, mostly because she liked that he indicated he was going to keep trying in the face of her attempting to shut him down. “But right now, you’re at a disadvantage because you’re my patient, and until your doctor gives you the okay to be up, you’ll be staying right there in that bed.”
A slow grin touched his mouth, nearly making her heart stop. There was something so dangerously sexy about the way he looked at her. Maybe she shouldn’t have used the word bed.
“Stop it.”
His eyebrow shot up, and his thumb moved in a gentle, soothing caress along her inner wrist. It occurred to her that he could read her frantic pulse. She tried scowling at him, but that only made his smile climb to his eyes. But then he lifted his gaze toward the door, tipping her off that they weren’t alone.
“Need a word with you, Harlow,” Rainier said, announcing his presence.
“You can have that word with her right here, Rainier,” Wilder stated. His tone was soft, low, even amicable, but there seemed to be an underlying threat Harlow couldn’t identify.
She spun around, shifting her position on the bed because Wilder hadn’t released her hand. “How is Raine doing?”
“What happened to Raine?” Wilder asked before Rainier could answer.
“She was climbing,” Rainier said. “Rattlesnake bit her, and she came off the rock, landed on her bad leg and suffered three breaks. She’s being treated with antivenom and Rush and his team are doing the surgery on her leg.”
“Is she going to lose her leg, Rainier?” Harlow asked.
“I honestly don’t know.” Rainier’s voice gentled even more. “Rush is one of the best, if not the best ortho man I’ve seen. If it’s possible to save her leg, he will. We need to discuss the threat that was in your mailbox this morning.”
“She has a file,” Wilder said. “Quite a few threats, apparently.”
Harlow turned back to glare at him. “Really? Do you think being a snitch is going to endear you to me?”
Wilder’s lips curved into his brief, fascinating smile. Or more like a smug smirk—she couldn’t decide, only that it softened his appearance for just one moment. “Babe, I told you we have to deal with any threats. I’ll be looking at that file right along with Rainier.”
“How many threats?” Rainier asked, a shade of darkness in his tone.
She shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ve been getting them for well over a year. In the last few months, they’ve escalated. I can tell they aren’t all from the same person.”
“Did you mention this to Sam?” Rainier’s voice dropped another octave.
Sam was going to be very upset when he found out. He’d been a part of her friend circle for a couple of years before he married Stella. He thought of the women as family, her included, and he was protective of them. She adored Sam, but she wasn’t the type of woman to go running to a man when she got what she considered normal threats. They’d been coming since she was a young child.
“Why would I do that?” she countered.
Before Rainier could answer, Wilder did. “So you’re safe. It may not matter to you, Harlow, but your safety means a great deal to me. I’m hiding out in your home, which could potentially bring trouble to you. We haven’t even told my boss I’m alive. It’s important to me, to Sam and Rainier and even Zale, that you’re safe at all times.”