While Shay scheduled an appointment for whoever was on the phone, I heard the front door to the clinic open and reflexively glanced over my shoulder to see Walker coming in. He hadn’t seen me yet, so I took a moment to absorb the sight of him.
My pulse sped up and my belly did a quick little flip. He wore faded blue jeans and battered leather boots. A black T-shirt that did nothing to hide his muscled frame topped off his look. Damn, that man did a T-shirt and jeans amazingly well. He was mouth-watering—all rangy muscle as he moved with easy grace toward the reception desk.
His name slipped out of my mouth without my permission. His feet stopped and he turned, his silver-smoke gaze locking with mine instantly. I swear it felt like a little flame flickered through the air between us. The moment was electric. It had only been a few hours since I’d seen him, and I was already a puddle of need.
I’d woken this morning with his arms wrapped around me after sleeping better than I had in years. After several thrashing beats of my heart, Walker angled across the room to where I stood off to the side of the reception desk. Shay’s gaze was curious when her eyes bounced between Walker and me.
“Hey.” That one word, spoken in Walker’s gravelly drawl, set butterflies alight in my belly.
I took a shallow breath because my lungs couldn’t do anything else. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
Just then, the door to the clinic opened again. This time, my older brother came through. Lucas’s eyes bounced to us instantly.
Just what I need. My protective brother as an audience.
If Walker thought anything of Lucas’s presence, he didn’t let it show. His eyes held mine a bit too long for comfort, and I found I couldn’t look away. The electricity shimmering around us felt so powerful I irrationally worried my brother could actually see it.
Now, you know you’re losing your mind, my inner critic quickly chided me.
“Checking on the opossum?” Lucas asked as he stopped beside Walker and me.
“How did you hear about the opossum?” I countered.
“I told him,” Walker replied with a slow grin that sent those butterflies completely wild in my belly. It was enough to try to manage my body’s crazy reaction to Walker on my own. It was far more unsettling with an audience, especially one that might have an opinion.
“We do work together, in case you forgot,” Lucas said with a pointed look in my direction. “I’m glad you didn’t try to wrangle a wild, injured opossum on your own, by the way.”
Defensiveness flashed inside, and I put my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at my brother. “I’m sure I could’ve handled it fine. I do appreciate Walker’s help, though.”
“Injured wild animals are not something to fuck around with, Jade. At least Walker has some experience because his mom used to have a bird rehab program,” Lucas replied.
“She did?” My eyes swung to Walker.
Somehow during the course of events last night, that detail did not come up. I was hungry for every little detail I could absorb about Walker. That little detail about me—my greedy curiosity about all things Walker—should’ve sent me running.
Walker nodded. “Yep. She didn’t have a rescue like the one here, but she got trained to rehab wild birds. She still does it here and there.” He glanced over his shoulder toward Shay when she hung up the phone. “Any updates?”
Shay came around from behind the reception desk. I stepped over toward her, both disappointed and relieved to create some distance from Walker. That man was an actual magnet for me. I needed to get myself in hand.
“How is he?” I asked when I reached Shay’s side and rested my elbow on the counter surrounding the reception desk.
“He’s fine,” she said with a smile. “He had a broken leg, so Jackson set it last night and put a good brace on. He’s all settled over in the rescue barn today.”
Relief washed through me. “Good. So what happens now? Will he be able to be released into the wild?”
“It depends.”
“Depends on what?” I pressed.
Walker stepped closer, and my pulse instantly picked up its pace. I hoped like hell my skin wasn’t flushed because I could feel heat suffusing me. I could honestly say I’d never experienced the concept of hot and bothered until I met Walker. Now, it seemed to be a regular state of affairs for my body when he happened to be around.
I heard Jackson before I saw him. “On how well his recovery goes,” Jackson’s voice said, preceding him before he came out of the hallway into the reception area.
“What do you mean?” I asked when he stopped beside Shay and leaned over to dust a kiss over her lips. I swear, they were too sweet. It almost hurt my heart a little. I’d never envied their connection until right this second.
Longing pierced me—a deep wish to have someone look at me the way Jackson looked at Shay, a longing to be able to trust someone like that. Shay had plenty of reasons not to trust, but there wasn’t even a hint of doubt when I saw her look at Jackson.
I kicked those feelings away. I couldn’t hope for something like that and was startled to even wish I could.
Jackson lifted his head and belatedly replied to my question when I impatiently tapped the toe of my cowboy boot against the desk. “Well, it was a pretty bad break and his hips were banged up. We’re not gonna know for a few weeks just how good his mobility will be. He needs to be able to fend for himself out there. Some animals rehab easier than others. The downside to opossums is they’re easily domesticated. This guy is quite young. I’d guess him to be less than a year old.”
I reflexively looked toward Walker, as if somehow he could reassure me. As soon as my eyes met his, it felt as if something struck me right in my solar plexus. This was crazy, really crazy.
“That’s how these things go,” Lucas said from my side. “No matter what, he survived, probably thanks to you.”
My brother knew me well enough to sense I was upset and unsettled. I prayed he had no idea it wasn’t just over the opossum. Walker blessedly stayed quiet, although I felt his gaze on me when Lucas looked away to say something to Jackson.
“Can I go see him?” I asked Shay.
“Of course. He’s in the recovery area in the rescue barn. It’s not in the main section, but in the room at the back,” she explained.
“Do I need anyone to come with me?”
Jackson interjected, “No, but just looking.”
“Got it. I just want to see him.”
“Mind if I tag along?” Walker asked
“Fine with me. You helped me get him here, so of course.”
Lucas chimed in, “I gotta roll. When I saw your car here, I stopped to ask if you could babysit Rylie tomorrow.”
“Of course.”
“I know you always say that, but it’s not your full-time job anymore now that she goes to school. I never want to assume,” Lucas replied.
I leveled my brother with a glare. “Assume all you want when it comes to my niece. If I ever have plans, I’ll happily change them.”
Lucas grinned. “Still going to ask, and thanks. I have my physical tomorrow, and Valentina and I are doing a shopping run in Asheville. Text her tonight if you need anything.”
“Text Valentina, not you?” I asked as he turned away.