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“Oh, sure! Hattie!” As his cute kid voice carried across the way, Hattie’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Come over here!”
“Sounds like you’re being summoned, little lady.” Despite Mac being a few dozen feet from me, his booming voice carried over clear as a bell. He squatted down and took who I now knew as Hattie off his shoulders and set her down.
She and Henry were dressed in puffy coats and little snow pants and boots and hats, looking so cute that I wanted to scream.
Hattie looked at me with the same big hazel eyes as her brother. While Henry showed no fear in running over to me and throwing his arms around my legs, however, his sister was far more reluctant.
“I don’t wanna,” she said. Her voice was so small and quiet that there was no way I’d have been able to hear it if it weren’t still and silent out.
She grabbed onto Mac, holding him tightly.“That’s ok kiddo. You don’t have to if you’re not ready.”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
I took note of the other two men that had come with Mac and Adam and realized with a jolt that they were identical twins. The only way to tell them apart was the length of their beards. One was cropped close to his face, while the other wore his a little longer.
“Sorry to just roll up on you all without notice,” Mac said. “But since we’re here, want to meet the rest of the gang?”
Chapter 9
Tyler
To say that I was awestruck would’ve been the understatement of the century.
She was damn gorgeous, the prettiest thing I’d seen in my life. Even in her bundled-up winter gear it was obvious that she was something special. Her skin was a stunning olive, her eyes dark and her beautiful face framed by the dark curls that dangled down from her knit cap.
I couldn’t stop staring.
“Yo, Ty! You alright?”
“Huh?”
A response came, but instead of words it was a sharp blast of pain to my arm. I snapped back into reality, flicking my eyes in the direction of where it came from. Marcus was next to me, an expression of confusion and annoyance on his face.
“What?”
“Get your head out of your ass, we’re meeting the neighbors.”
I felt like a damn idiot. It wasn’t like me to get so distracted by a woman. I shook my head quickly and got back in the game. Marcus and I stepped over to the two women. As we approached, I noticed something interesting in the way the other one looked at us—nothing more than pure skepticism.
Aubrey stepped over, pulling off her glove and offering her hand.
“My name’s Aubrey,” she said. “Really nice to finally meet you guys.”
I took off my own glove, reaching over and taking her hand. Her skin was warm and soft, enough to distract me once again.
“Pleasure,” I said. “I’m Tyler, this is Marcus.”
“Now, I can introduce my damn self,” Marcus said, his voice gruff. “Marcus MacDaniel. Great to finally meet you both.”
When the shake was over, I didn’t want to let go of her hand. There was something about her touch, her glance, that was completely irresistible. It sure as hell didn’t help matters that I’d seen a picture of her in a bikini and knew just what she looked like under that heavy winter coat.
“Agnes Culbertson,” spoke her friend. “But everyone calls me Aggie. I’m part-owner of Downing.”
She shook my hand, and the way she grasped my palm was sharp and a bit aggressive, though not in a hostile way.
“George is so funny!” Henry’s voice carried over to us, interrupting our introductions. We all turned in the direction of Henry, he and Hattie standing with their hands on the wooden fence of the llama corral.
“He’s cute!” Hattie added. A big smile was all over her precious face, which was good to see; normally, the girl was so shy that it took her hours to warm up in front of strangers.
