Her Three Wilde Champion Men (Wilde, Nevada 2)

Alex walked up to the podium. God, he was tall. Six four. He looked so sexy in the suit with a tie that matched the color of his damn eyes. “Thank you for coming to the ground breaking of phase one of Wilde Regional Hospital,” he said in his familiar deep, sexy tone.

Instantly, her heart began pounding hard in her chest and her skin began to warm all over her body. Not good.

“We have a lot of people to thank and we’ll be starting shortly.” Pulling the mike out of its cradle, Alex moved back to the bigwigs settling themselves in the chairs on the stage.

Some Shelby knew, the out-of-towners she didn’t. They were likely part of the state and national representatives hoping to get publicity from this event. Alex had been leading the project since its inception and she’d been drawn to him like a moth to a flame the moment he’d hit town.

Being Austin’s personal assistant for the past three years, she’d grown accustomed to her boss’s many impromptu conferences, but the meetings that had included Alex of late had unsettled her more than she cared to admit. Alex and Jackson Wilde, the acting attorney for the new hospital, had come to the Wilde Silver Mine offices to meet with Austin a few times. Each visit left her with a strong tingle—brought on by Alex—which didn’t subside for hours after he and Jackson left.

“…and last but not least, I want to thank Charly Wynn. She made this dream a reality.” Alex’s voice was like hot fudge to her ears, so freaking tempting.

The crowd applauded.

Standing next to her, Jessie Wilde, Austin’s wife, asked, “You okay, Shelby?”

“Fine. Just fine,” she lied, turning toward the woman who had finally hooked the unhookable Austin. Though most people looked at women in the final trimester of pregnancy as beautiful, Shelby never had. Cute was the best she would ever grade mothers-to-be, but Jessie was much more than cute. She was stunning. “Six days left. How do you feel?” Shelby asked her friend. “I bet your five husbands are driving you crazy.”

Jessie was married not just to Austin but also to his four brothers, too. The five Wilde brothers were descendants of the founders of the town.

“Changing the subject, I see. Don’t want to talk to me about what’s got you so wound up? Okay. I’ll let you win for now, but don’t think I’m letting you off that easy.” Jessie smiled and patted her belly. “I’m ready for this little Wilde to come out.”

“You still don’t know the baby’s sex?” she asked.

“Nope. It’s driving my guys crazy, especially Jackson. But I want to be surprised.”

Shelby knew how things worked in Wilde. When a woman was married to multiple men, no one dared ask who the biological father was. It just wasn’t done. In fact, most women didn’t want to know themselves, since all the men raised the children together as a team of dads.

Shelby put her arm around her dear friend, thinking how odd things had turned out. It was less than a year ago when Samantha, Shelby’s closest friend at the time and Jessie’s would-be killer, had died in the Old Wilde Mine.

She’d had no idea how twisted and disturbed Samantha had been. The side her old confidant had shown Shelby was always upbeat and kind. Sunny, even. The other side? The homicidal maniac side? Dark and deadly. She was glad she’d never seen that part of Sam. Very glad indeed.

“Any names picked out for either sex?” Shelby had become very close to Jessie over the past year. Their friendship had taken time, but now it was one of the most important relationships she had. Charly, Jessie’s cousin, was a close friend, too.

“Yes, but I’m not telling.” Jessie put her index finger up to her lips. “It’s a surprise.”

“You can trust me, Jessie. You know that.”

“Can I?” Jessie placed her hands on her hips. “Who told Carlotta my due date?” Then her friend stuck out her tongue. “Now the whole town knows.”

“It wasn’t just me who told, Jess. Maude Strong, your mother-in-law’s sister, was telling anyone and everyone who’d listen.”

“Wilde isn’t a place anyone can keep a secret for long, is it, Shelby?”

?

??Not a chance, especially not about a new Wilde baby coming into the world,” she said as her eyes drifted back up to the stage where Alex had been standing. He was no longer up there, but instead was on the ground heading her way. And then he was right in front of her. She stared up at him like a complete idiot. Say something. Anything.

A shiver shot down her spine as words had suddenly become too much for her. His unblinking green eyes snared her completely. Hints of the boy Alex had been were in his dimples, but in those eyes was something different. Strength. Hunger. Animal. His thick black hair was there, right in front of her, ready for her fingertips. Nervous energy swept through her as his gaze never relaxed off of her. Never. The longer he stared, the more her pulse simmered in her veins.

“Shelby, I need you.”

Had she heard him correctly? Or was this only a dream—a very wonderful, wicked dream, which she would beg the gods to never let her wake from.

Shelby, I need you.

His words went into her ears, vibrated there for several luscious seconds, rolled down her body, and settled deep into her core. Just looking at him caused a wild heat to spread through her.

“Okay, Shelby?” Alex had said something in between “I need you” and “Okay,” but she had no clue what it had been.