Damn it, now he felt like an asshole. “No one is perfect.”
“I want to be,” she admitted. Then with surprising candor, she added, “I guess I’ve been competing with my brothers for so long that being anything less than perfect—perfectly informed, prepared and capable—makes me a little nuts.”
Incredible insight...that made sense. “Was I wrong in thinking your brothers would show up here?” His experience had been with assertive men who wanted to take over every situation. That rubbed Crosby the wrong way, so how bad would it have been for a younger sister?
“I called Dad. He’s the only one who could hold them back, and he,” she said with emphasis, “trusts me.”
Her father was an imposing figure to be sure. Crosby likened him to Batman because of the way he entered a scene to the awe of all spectators. The man definitely brought a lot of larger-than-life presence everywhere he went. His sons weren’t much different. And Madison? Overall, she was cut from the same cloth.
The senior McKenzie had probably been a strict taskmaster. After all, he was the one who’d determined that his kids would be the alphas of all alphas, apex predators who would go up against the worst society had to offer. Each of them had incredibly honed skills and a drive to conquer.
Crosby could have easily labeled them with the criminal class, except that the more he’d learned, the more he’d...respected them.
He could label them vigilantes, true, and that definitely placed them in the category of illegal activity. The conflict for him was that they fought against human trafficking, and for that, they had his deepest gratitude.
“I see you’re not going to agree.”
Crosby had no idea what she was talking about.
“Trust?” When he still hesitated, she said, “Never mind. I guess it’s too soon for that.”
Shaking his head to gather his thoughts, Crosby asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“Guess I might as well.” Disgruntled, she began feeding her arms into the sleeves of the white snowsuit. “I’ll feel better about this whole cluster if you answer one question for me.”
“You need me to confirm something? Seriously?”
“Oh, I’ll be on my computer as soon as I get home, but given the weather, that could take a little time and it really wouldn’t kill you to share one tiny tidbit.”
Deliberately, he exhaled as if impatient. In truth, he had a difficult time keeping his hands at his sides when he really wanted to touch her. Just a small stroke of that long sun-kissed brown hair. Or a grazing of his knuckles over her downy cheek. Or... “What is it?”
“You’re really not a cop anymore?”
“No.”
“Well, why not?”
“That’s two questions.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I think I feel faint. Maybe I shouldn’t drive? I should probably ask Winton if I could hang around for a little while to—”
“No.” She didn’t even try to look sickly as she said all that, but then the point was for her to prove she’d do anything to get her way. That was something that alarmed him the most.
Madison McKenzie had no idea how to give up.
“I retired,” he said.
She snorted. “At thirty-five?”
Easy enough to explain. “I have an old injury that was causing me some difficulty.”
Her brows leveled over her eyes. “Someone actually bought that story?”
Jaw tightening, he explained, “I was shot in the leg.”
“Five years ago, but it hasn’t slowed you down. Heck, I just saw you in action, remember? So try again.”
Copyright © 2021 by Lori Foster
Also available from Lori Foster
and HQN
The McKenzies of Ridge Trail
No Holding Back
Stronger Than You Know
The Summer of No Attachments
The Somerset Girls
Sisters of Summer’s End
Cooper’s Charm
Road to Love
Driven to Distraction
Slow Ride
All Fired Up
Body Armor
Under Pressure
Hard Justice
Close Contact
Fast Burn
The Guthrie Brothers
Don’t Tempt Me
Worth the Wait
The Ultimate series
Hard Knocks (prequel ebook novella)
No Limits
Holding Strong
Tough Love
Fighting Dirty
For additional books by Lori Foster,
visit her website, lorifoster.com.
ISBN-13: 9781488077814
Stronger Than You Know
Copyright © 2021 by Lori Foster
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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