A man and a woman, both with the same dark hair and eyes as Wade’s. The woman had a flowing mass of shiny chocolate brown hair. More vibrant and beautiful than it had a right to be. She was flawlessly built, too, with curves in al the right places. She was every bit as tal as Wade, Gracie noted. Gracie suddenly felt even more frumpy and battered than ever. The man at the other woman’s side smiled with mischief. He looked like a younger version of Wade. Was this the brother and sister then?
Her head started to pound. Gracie touched her fingers to her temples and rubbed, closing her eyes as she did—trying in vain to be rid of the headache. Instantly Wade was there, touching her face with light, soft caresses. “What is it, Gracie?”
“I’m getting a headache.” She peeked up at him with one eye and grumbled, “It’s no big deal, real y.”
Wade put the safety back on the smal revolver and shoved it in his ankle holster before saying, “I don’t care to see you in pain.”
Gracie closed her one open eye again, unsure what to say. Wade pul ed her fingers down, replacing them with his own. He massaged and pushed at al the right spots, softly whispering, wil ing her to relax. Who was she to bitch? The man had the magic touch. She folded her arms over her chest and let Wade have his way. Soon, she felt better. He’d reduced the headache to barely a throb. She touched her forehead and couldn’t help wondering what else the talented man had up his sleeve.
“Thank you.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then murmured, “You’re welcome.”
Someone cleared his or her throat, and Gracie felt her cheeks heat. She’d nearly forgotten they weren’t alone. Wade had the ability to block out the rest of the world.
She saw them standing at the entrance to the library. The woman stil looked classy and beautiful. The man who so closely resembled Wade stil had a grin on his face.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us, bro?”
Wade’s arm came around her waist and pul ed her in tight in a possessive hold that spoke volumes. “Gracie, this is the brother and sister I told you about earlier.” Wade glared at Dean and said, “Your timing sucks.”
Gracie crossed the room and stuck her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you both. Wade was just tel ing me about you.”
Dean was the first to step forward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gracie.” To her utter astonishment, he bowed over her hand and left a light kiss on her knuckles. She heard Wade say Dean’s name, as if in warning. Dean only bobbed his eyebrows at her and said, “He can be sort of touchy.”
She smiled at his playfulness. Dean was just as big and muscular as Wade, and a bit more intense. Although he didn’t send her heart racing the way Wade did. The woman merely shoved Dean to the side and
gave her own introductions. “Deanna. Nice meeting you, Gracie.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. Wade was tel ing me that you’re the genius who decorated his home. It’s beautiful.”
She waved the compliment away. “Eh, it’s a hobby. I enjoy it, but it’s not something I want to get paid to do.”
“It seems to me you could make good money, though.”
“Yeah, but then I’d have to kiss up to people and put up with their ridiculous tastes. No, thanks.”
Gracie laughed. “I do see your point.”
“And now that you’ve al met, how about you scram so Gracie and I can get back to doing what we were doing before you barged in. Again.
Without knocking.”
“We knocked. You just didn’t hear us.”
“I would’ve heard.”
Dean glanced at her, then back at Wade. “I’m thinking you were distracted.”
“Whatever. Did you two actual y want something or are you just here to harass me?”
Deanna spoke up this time, her frown of disapproval obvious. “You said we’d go check out that apartment together for Mom. Remember?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Shit. I forgot about that.”
Dean shoved his hands in his pockets and in a sarcastic tone, he said, “Yeah, we figured that out al by ourselves.” He flicked a glance to Wade’s ankle. “What’s with the hardware? Something up?”
“Stalker. Jonas and I have it covered.”