Wolf Haven. Lindsay McKenna

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СКАЧАТЬ a looker. If he’d thought she was beautiful from a distance, she was exquisite now. “Can I help you pack or carry your suitcase down to your car, Ms. Pascal?”

      Flustered, Sky saw the intense look he gave her. She might be all of twenty-six, but she knew when a man was appreciating her as a woman. For a moment, she was tongue-tied, which wasn’t like her at all before her capture. Since then, broken psychologically by the torture, she’d become shy and unsure of herself, her old self murdered by the Taliban. “Just call me Sky.” She stepped aside and gestured him into the well-appointed room. “I have one suitcase.”

      Gray nodded deferentially and entered the room, feeling the woman’s nervousness. She wore the same pantsuit, looking quietly elegant. He watched as she quickly closed the door, noting her hands trembled. Purposely backing up so he wasn’t crowding her, Gray couldn’t stop liking what he saw. The sunlight was pouring into the window, and her ginger hair shone with gold and red highlights. It swung clean and shining across her shoulders. “Iris said she’d have me pay for the room. She doesn’t want you paying for it.”

      “That was very kind of her. Thank you.” Her heart was going crazy in her chest. Gray McCoy reminded her of a lethal snow leopard, never hearing him come until it was too late. He had that distinctive SEAL walk, one of complete silence. Sky hadn’t been interested in a man for a long time. Now her body was behaving as if it had a mind of its own. She could feel her breasts tightening, feeling the heat of his gaze.

      What was wrong with her? Was the stress too much? And yet, Sky didn’t feel anxious. Oddly, she felt protected by Gray. It was a sense, an energy. Nothing overt or obvious. Maybe it was the care she saw burning in his hazel eyes that missed nothing. She noticed how he gentled his tone of voice, as if dealing with a hyper wild horse. On some days, that was exactly how Sky felt. Bad days. On good ones, she was emotionally stable. But not today.

      “Here,” he said, stepping forward, placing his hand around the handle of the suitcase, his chest barely brushing her shoulder, “let me get that for you.”

      Sky stepped out of the way, her shoulder tingling wildly in the wake of Gray accidentally brushing against her. He smelled of sunshine, pine and a hint of sage that grew so prolifically in other parts of Wyoming. A man’s smell. Masculine. It made her ache. Sky hadn’t felt sexual in such a long time. She’d thought the capture had killed her femininity. Apparently not. At least, not with Gray McCoy, who stood patiently waiting with her suitcase in his hand. As a nurse, she was good at small talk. Now words just jammed up in her throat, and she couldn’t get anything out of her mouth. Sky missed that ability because in the past, she’d been able to gently communicate with men who were in excruciating pain and calm them with her voice and touch.

      Picking up her purse, she said, “I’m ready.” When he smiled a little, one corner of his mouth hooking upward, his green, gold and brown eyes soothing, she felt a sheet of heat wind through her like a warm spring day.

      Gray opened the door and stepped out, holding it for her. “Do you, by the way, have any jeans or work clothes with you?”

      “I don’t.”

      “No worries,” he assured her, shutting the door. “We’ll stop by the Horse Emporium on the way out of town. They have men’s and women’s work clothes. Iris wants you to start the day after tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.” He looked down at her. “That work for you?”

      “Yes.”

      Gray saw her hesitate, sort of looking like a deer in headlights, paralyzed. He knew PTSD could do it to a person when they were becoming overwhelmed with too much information, and they couldn’t process it as quickly as other people. “What would you like to do first?” He knew how important it was to hand back the control to her. It would ease her anxiety.

      Sky gave him a look of apology. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed. I wasn’t really thinking I’d get the job.”

      Gray smiled. “Iris knows what she wants. And she likes you a lot. Had nothing but praise for you when she told me she hired you.” He watched her begin to relax, some of the tension leaving her face. Did Sky know how beautiful she was? Was she in a relationship? Iris never said.

      “Thanks for understanding.”

      “Follow me,” Gray urged quietly, heading down the hall toward the elevator.

      Sky felt pleasure watching this man walk with such silent grace. The breadth of his shoulders, his well-sprung chest narrowing into a flat, hard belly and narrow hips. The Levi’s hugged his long, thick thighs, telling her he spent a great deal of time in the saddle. As they waited for the elevator, she said, “Iris mentioned you were in the Navy like me.”

      “I was a SEAL.”

      “What team?”

      “ST3.” He angled his head to see if she understood the terminology.

      “I patched up a few ST3 operators the years I was at Bagram,” she said softly.

      “You never saw me,” he said wryly, holding open the elevator door for her to enter first. “In a way, now I’m sorry you didn’t.”

      “No, I never saw you in my E.R.,” she noted wryly. There was something about Gray McCoy that was allowing her to relax for the first time since being released from the hospital. Maybe it was his easygoing way, the warmth and care she saw burning in his eyes toward her. Or? Again, she felt him silently appreciating her as a woman. It lifted her spirits. Sky swore masculine heat radiated off his body. And she felt she could trust him. Maybe because he was an ex-SEAL? Her experiences with them had always been positive in the past. Why not now?

CHAPTER THREE

      SKY WORRIED THAT Gray McCoy would ask her too many questions about her stint in the Navy. But to her relief, he didn’t say another word. He was quiet as he drove her over in his truck to Albertson’s, the main grocery store for Jackson Hole. They would pick up her SUV at the inn afterward. He walked quietly behind her, reminding her of a guard dog watching over his mistress. She pushed the cart around, gathering the food for her dinners. Like a silent shadow, he wasn’t one for small talk, but then, SEALs were a very closed-mouth bunch anyway. As she went to the vegetable section, Sky saw Gray’s face grow amused.

      “Are you vegan?” he wondered, watching her put a lot of green stuff into her cart.

      “No. Why?”

      Shrugging amiably, Gray enjoyed watching Sky’s grace as she moved. He liked following her, the sway of her hips inciting a cauldron of heat in his lower body. She had healing hands with long, tapered fingers. “Employees have a house on the ranch. There’s a full kitchen, living room, an office with a computer, and there’s two bathrooms. Since I was the only one living there, I made meals every night.” He gave her a hopeful look. “I was going to ask if you wanted to cook, and then I’d take the next night and make us a meal.”

      Sky laughed a little. It felt so good to laugh! “Let’s see if I’m following this. You’re afraid I’m going to make rabbit food when you’re a strapping wrangler who’s wanting a beefsteak instead?”

      God, she looked incredibly desirable when she smiled. Really smiled. A smile that went straight into those shining dark blue eyes with huge black pupils. Those ginger lashes were long and emphasized the cobalt color of her eyes. Gray had the good grace to look down at his dusty boots for a moment. When he lifted his head, his СКАЧАТЬ