“How does she know it was Ruth?”
Watching the enjoyment of the day vanish from his face broke Pixie’s heart. How many times had Brogan been able to genuinely embrace a good time before shadows set in? Not nearly often enough, she was sure.
Lips suddenly dry and her stomach knotting, Pixie vowed to herself that somehow, someday, she would ensure that he started to see life in a whole new way. The way he deserved.
“Ruthie said enough things to give herself away. She said your name and mentioned Shayna.”
With his disgust evident, he said, “Of course she did.”
“Ellen thought she was drunk, and she was with an older man.”
Predictably, his posture became more alert.
She didn’t want him bracing for the worst, hated that he felt he had to. Touching him was necessary, so she opened her hand over his shoulder, the same one that held his trident tattoo. There was no give to his flesh. It was as if he’d been carved from warm stone.
Through the soft cotton of his shirt, she felt his heat, the slight flex of steel muscles. It fascinated her.Hefascinated her.
“Pixie,” he said, his tone strangled.
When she looked at his face, she realized she was affecting him. She, Pixie Nolan, the mouse no one had wanted, was eliciting a reaction from this remarkable man simply by touching his shoulder.
For one of the very first times in her life, she felt powerful—powerful enough to help him. Maybe enough to shield him.
Or at least offer him a distraction.
When he pulled up to a stop sign and turned piercing gray eyes on her, her courage shriveled.
Okay, never mind.Feeling silly, she withdrew her hand, but Brogan caught it, lowered it to his thigh, and held it flat. “What’s going on, Pixie?”
Well, she couldn’t tell him her thoughts, so she shared a variation of them. Glancing around, she realized they were alone on the road. The windows were starting to fog a little and the rain came down more steadily.
“I can describe the man to you, but I was worried he could be your father.”
“Doubtful, but that’s not why you were stroking me.”
Had she stroked him? And why did that sound so … sexual? “I was offering comfort.”
For a heart-stopping moment, those silvery eyes held hers. “Huh.” He flipped on the defroster and cautiously drove forward. “Felt like something altogether different.”
CHAPTER12
Brogan hadn’t meant to spook Pixie with his observation, and it definitely wasn’t a complaint. Yet she’d gone so quiet—and pink—that he felt like an ass.
“So we’re clear here, I like when you touch me.” He heard her quick inhalation. “Were you holding your breath?”
“Maybe?” She released it in a long sigh. “You confuse me, and then I confuse myself.”
Welcome to the party.He’d come to Bramble with one goal in mind, finding family for Shayna. All his life, he’d been careful to limit the things he wanted. He always made sure something was attainable before he even considered going after it. Then he judged whether or not it was worth the effort.
Getting out of his mother’s house, finding independence, had been more than worth joining the military. He hadn’t gone that route to find a family, but he’d found one just the same. Not a mother and father—the military wasn’t about coddling anyone. But brothers? Men he knew would have his back? Yes, he’d gotten them, and in so many ways, they’d been the best part of him.
Until Shayna. That tiny girl had added dimensions to his life that he’d never thought possible. She made his heart capable of feeling things he hadn’t known existed.
And Pixie was doing the same now. All those same profound, stirring emotions, but with Pixie there were other elements. Hotter and deeper. He craved more.
He craved her special brand of magic.
He just plain cravedher.
