Page 27 of Rescued Hearts

It took Felicity one step to reach her phone, when it would take Honor five.

“Hey!” she called out as her sister snatched up her phone and read the text.

“Prairie Ember!” Felicity’s exclamation made Honor’s brows pinch.

“What’s Prairie Ember?”

“Only the best restaurant in the county. It is not a discuss-business-deals-over-coffee place.” She handed over the phone, and Honor pulled it close to read the text from Gray including the restaurant name and the time he’d be picking her up.

Butterfly wings fluttered in her stomach.

Felicity watched her face closely. “Told you it was a date.”

“Plenty of business is discussed in nice restaurants.”

“Yeah, but this is Gray Malone.”

“What does that mean?”

Her sister’s look gave Honor pause. She had no idea who he truly was. She’d run into him in passing at the coffee shop, then the post office. He joined her class.

Sure, he had steady hands and a quiet, intense way of watching her that made her breath hitch.

But whowasGray Malone?

She leaned against the counter. “All right. Tell me what you know about him.”

Felicity flashed a grin, as if she had been waiting for this moment. Leaning against the counter too, she faced Honor. “Oh,nowyou want to know? Let me think…”

“Felicity!”

Her sister chuckled. “He runs a ranch outside of town with his family. Former military. He also helps out with some kind of security business.”

“Security business?”

“Nobody knows what it is exactly, but he’s got connections.”

Military. No wonder he seemed so stiff. And his hands so steady.

Her sister nodded as if to confirm everything she said. “From what I know, he’s the strong and silent type.”

That tracked with what Honor already knew.

“He’s the sort of guy who doesn’t talk much but gets things done. Kind of intense, kind of broody. Kind of…hot.” She smirked at Honor.

She gripped her phone tighter. “Well, now I’m nervous. I had no idea he’s known for all those things. How did you find all this out?”

“People talk in small towns. Especially when the newcomer looks like Gray Malone.”

She bit down on her lip, her mind filled with images of how Gray looked when he rounded the corner of the post office and demanded to know what she was doing. She also thought about how he filled a room with his presence without even trying, how he’d joined into her class without hesitating, and how he threaded those beads onto the wire, steady and sure.

And how his gaze flickered to her, as if he was reading her.

When was the last time anybody looked at her with such intensity? Never. The answer was never.

“He’s former military,” she repeated.

Felicity nodded and wiggled her fingers. “Did you see his hands? So big. So strong. So steady.”

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