Father, please,he prayed as his feet pounded over the pavement.Please help me. I want to be with Addy more than anything. I can’t make that happen. I know that now. Only you can. Will you bring us back together? Please?
Mack ran harder. Faster. Charging down the street and then circling back to the house, sweat beading up on his forehead. When he got Bear back into the basement, Mack was sweaty, his throat dry.
Kiley looked up at them. “Looks like you took quite the walk.”
Mack nodded, his thoughts mixed. Had he just been running to God or from Him?
Addy sat up in her bed, eager to hear about Mack’s delivery of Bear to the safe house. “How is he?”
Mack straddled the same chair he’d sat in earlier, and abroad smile brightened his expression. “Good. I took him for a run and then left him with the team. He’s in love with Kiley, so he’ll be a good boy.”
Addy’s heart lifted at the good news. “I’ll bet he was happy to see you.”
“It went both ways. I miss him too.”
She studied his strained expression that had plagued him much of the time since they’d reconnected. Was he always this troubled, or was it the PTSD or even the danger to her? Or it could be her injuries and her loss of memories fueling more anxiety than usual. Seemed like he could use Bear in his life to help him cope.
“Why did we decide for Bear to live with me?” she asked. “Other than I’m sure I was more than happy to have him.”
Mack rested his arms on the back of the chair, the corded muscles playing beneath the surface of his skin. “It was my fault we split up, so the least I could do was to let you have him. And I felt better knowing he was with you for protection when I couldn’t be there for you.”
“You really are a sweet man, Mack Jordan,” she said without thinking it through. “I can see why I fell in love with you.”
His mouth dropped open, a big gaping hole, before he recovered and grinned. “You’re the only person who has called me sweet and gotten away with it. Kiley tries, but I shut her down.”
At the fondness in his voice for another very attractive woman, Addy frowned. “Sounds like you and Kiley are close.”
He nodded. “She’s the kid sister I never had.”
“Do you have siblings?” she asked, suddenly wanting to know everything about him.
“Two brothers. Older.”
“So you’re the baby.” She mulled that over. “Explains a few things about you.”
“Such as?”
“You’re charming. Confident. Seem to be creative. Independent. Adventurous.”
“Yeah. That’s all true. My brothers, of course, would say I was spoiled and got away with everything.” He grinned. “And they’d be right.”
She enjoyed this mischievous side of him. “Where did you grow up? I mean, I know with your accent and cowboy boots it wasn’t D.C.”
“Born-and-bred Texan and proud of it, ma’am.” He mocked tipping a cowboy hat and smiled at her.
She could easily see him on a ranch. A horse. Maybe riding a bull. In the rodeo, breaking all the young girls’ hearts. A bolt of jealousy stabbed through her chest. Shocked, she drew back.
He lifted an eyebrow. “You got something against Texas or the rodeo?”
“No. Not at all. I love watching bull riding. Did I get that from being with you?”
He nodded. “Surprising, the things you’re remembering.”
She had to agree. “I could totally see you riding a bull. Did you?”
He frowned. “Yeah. For years.”
“You don’t look happy about it.”
