Page 32 of Wild Card

He blows out a breath and relaxes his shoulders. “This your idea of a first date?”

“Not by a long shot. This is a warm-up.”

“Man, I hope you have some patience because my sister is going to test it.”

“Learned a little about patience in my line of work.”

He does another once-over. “Something tells me that wasn’t gained in law enforcement.”

“Marines.”

“Combat?”

“My fair share of tours.”

“Jesus, Willow is jumping off the deep end.”

“I’m an excellent swimmer.”

His eyes widen then settle in approval. “Well, then, I’ll say it’s nice to fucking meet you, Talon. Good luck.”

He walks away, mumbling under his breath.

I lock eyes with Willow, catching the wary grin.

The burn from earlier returns.

She has no idea how the small gesture fuels my determination.

5

WILLOW

“Walking on sunshine…whoa -oh…. Oh yeah…”

Wolf barks, or more like howls, glaring over his shoulder at Bex.

“Yeah, baby, join in.” She shimmies her hips and continues to sing horrendously off-key.

A couple jogs by, shooting her amused smirks, which only encourages her further to butcher the classic hit.

“Dear lord, please make it stop.”

“Shut it, I’m jamming. KC and the Sunshine Band would be proud.”

“They may be proud that you aren’t singing their work.”

“Huh?”

“The song was by the band Katrina and the Waves.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

She pulls out her phone and Siri confirms my statement. “Well, who cares? I feel like singing and it fits today.”

“In that, I agree. But maybe keep it down. Half this park is covering their ears.”

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