Page 21 of Rescued Hearts

Neither was Gray, apparently.

He walked beside her, his firm, muscled body straight and tall.

“You don’t have to walk me. It’s not far.”

He threw her a calm look. “I told you, I’ve been meaning to take up a hobby.”

“And you picked making jewelry?”

He stopped walking and held out his arms. “Hand me those packages.”

While Honor wasn’t one to play the damsel in distress, she turned to him with a sigh of relief and dumped the stack into his arms. They weren’t heavy, but they were awkward in her arms.

The idea of seeing her ex in Willowbrook made her panic so much that she never thought about locking the packages in her van before rushing to her sister’s shop.

When they continued down the sidewalk toward the bookstore, she shook out her arms. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He didn’t seem to be lying about it not being a problem to carry all those jewelry orders—his muscled arms appeared to be more than capable of carrying a lot more.

Her fingers tingled where his had brushed them during the exchange, leaving her with a different kind of energy snapping along her nerves.

She slanted a look at him out of the corner of her eye. Gray. A fitting name for a man with eyes the same color. An image of a gray-eyed infant popped into her mind, and she wondered if the name was just a coincidence or the parents suspected he may have eyes of that color.

Gray was steady and solid…and threw her completely off-balance.

When they entered the bookstore, Felicity looked up from the table where she was arranging a display of books about jewelry.

Her stare moved from Honor straight to Gray, eyes narrowing and a little smile playing around her lips.

She could almost hear her sister’s question.What do we have here?

Honor widened her eyes in silent warning.

Felicity smirked but blessedly said nothing. Instead, she gestured to the back of the shop where she had a long table set up. Several women and a few young kids were already seated around it, chattering animatedly.

Felicity bustled toward Gray. “Can I take these packages from you?”

“I got it. Just show me where to set them down.” His rich voice flowed like water over Honor, washing away a bit more of the tension that lingered after seeing that van.

Felicity beamed up at him and tilted her head toward the front counter. “This way.”

He shot Honor another quirk of his lips before following her sister. Honor watched them for a moment.

What. A. Beefcake.

Gray was the kind of guy who took up space without even trying. Tall and broad-shouldered, he looked like he spent a lifetime doing hard work. The kind that stacked his body in thick muscle.

He also carried himself with quiet authority, like he was ready to take on anything, including getting her back on track after the incident at the post office.

She stood rooted, watching him move with precise control. Those long legs and the carved backside were hugged by worn denim, and black cotton kissed his muscled spine.

No wasted effort in that man. Just raw strength that made her stomach twist again for a totally different reason.

His body wasn’t the only thing that fascinated her. The way he watched everything with sharp gray eyes told her that he picked up on things most men wouldn’t. Like how upset she was after seeing her ex’s van.

Realizing that she had guests waiting for her, she hurried to grab the rolling case filled with beads for her class. She was glad now that Felicity offered to bring it to the shop for her. She was so rattled at the post office, she would have walked away and left the case in her van.

As she set out wood bowls and filled them with various beads, scattering other jewelry-making supplies around the table, she chatted with the guests.

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