Caught Between Three Billionaire Tycoons - Willa Hart Page 0,18

paranoid about humans finding out the secret, even though mostly humans didn’t pay attention. Some of them are so convinced there is no magic in this world they will turn away from solid evidence with blind eyes.

Egan and Adara jumped out of the strange truck and came charging toward me. I bent down and opened my arms, letting them cannon ball into me. I couldn’t help but glare toward the strange car and the shape of the man who was casually getting my family’s things out of the car.

Why was the car being towed? Who was this guy?

“Daddy!” Adara hooked her arms behind my neck and squeezed me tight. I rubbed her back and stood up, swinging her around so she laughed and giggled. I kept her in my arms while I leaned down to put an arm around Egan. He was old enough to get embarrassed by fatherly attention, so we just shared a look and I squeezed him on the shoulder.

“My man!” I grinned down at him. “You took care of everything on the trip up?”

“I sure did, dad! Man, it was scary when we went into the ditch.”

Ditch?

“Hello, Aleksy.” Whitney seemed shy, looking down away from my eyes as she pulled a strand of honey hair from her face.

Her presence immediately distracted me from Egan’s mention of the ditch. I let my eyes wander over her for a few seconds, feeling Adara’s weight in my arms and Egan snuggled up next to me.

It was so perfect. The three of us, here in the wilderness. Together. I felt like roaring in joy.

But something wasn’t right.

Her smile was demure as always, but there was a light of mischief in her eyes.

Like she had a secret.

I glanced toward the man at the truck again. I was trying to stay calm, really, I was, but my bear was almost frothing at the mouth with unanswered questions and a barely restrained threat display.

I knelt down to put little Adara back on her feet, and the kids started running around like little maniacs. It was always hard on them to be cooped up for so long. They kicked up mud and wet leaves and I figured, whatever this incident was, it sure hadn’t taken the wind out of them.

I looked past Whitney and looked at the car. The nose was crumpled. I was reacting with anger mostly because I knew that my woman and my kids had been in danger and I hadn’t been there.

This asshole was. Instead of me.

After blasting each other with leaves and earning some good-natured yelling from Whitney and me, the kids settled down. They ran toward the house, laughing and getting ready to fight over which room they wanted.

“I’m sorry that we got in a little early.” Whitney looked slightly pensive. “I wanted to beat the weather, but it caught me by surprise, anyway.”

I was ready to say that it was fine, no trouble, when her eyes flickered down to my feet. Her gaze lingered there for a moment before rising back to my face. For a second I forgot everything—the car being towed, the strange guy—while I tried to think of a decent excuse to be out in the cold with bare feet.

It wasn’t winter. The snow wasn’t ankle deep. But there was snow scattered on the higher peaks, though, and rain and wind weren’t warm like a coastal storm. I couldn’t claim that I was just enjoying nature, and it was too warm for shoes… That would just be ridiculous.

All I did was shift from foot to foot nervously.

Maybe I should just wait. If she didn’t ask, I wouldn’t have to tell.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Her voice sounded small but high at the same time. There was an anxiety to her I had never seen.

“I mean, you weren’t expecting us for a few days. I thought you had business elsewhere. I should have called. I really feel like I’m intruding.”

“No, no.” I smiled quickly, moving closer to her automatically. “It’s perfectly fine.”

That was one of those statements that would pass between humans, and I would then explain exactly what I had been doing. Or at least enough of it to put her mind at ease. I just left the sentence blunt ended.

Well, my dear, I changed into a bear and enjoyed the raw power nature has on my shifter nature... and I really don’t know what happened to my shoes.

I held in a chuckle and only grinned. That wouldn’t go over so well.

She smiled at