Page 10 of Tracked
His gaze caught mine, the gold in his eyes a little brighter. “It might.”
To whom, I wasn’t sure, but I answered anyway, bleeding all emotion from my voice as I air-quoted the asshole. “He told me to ‘stop being a stuck-up doctor bitch’ and that I ‘shouldn’t judge my sister’s relationship when I’ve never had one of my own.’” I frowned. “There might’ve been afuck youat the end, too, but that was the gist of it.”
“Sounds like a”—Calder grimaced—“real winner.”
If only he knew about the ones who’d come before Brandon. Thisreal winnerwasn’t even the worst.
“Wait.” Calder grabbed my wrist when I started to pull back.
My eyes snapped to his, heat searing from his fingertips like an IV straight into my veins.
Roughly clearing his throat, he released me. “Sorry. Can I see that again?”
Like I was handing him an organ transplant rather than a cell phone, I carefully passed it over to him, watching as he zoomed in on the screen.
His brows creased, hismasseterfiring spectacularly. “That’s the Antlers Diner. I recognize the logo.” He zoomed back out. “I’m going to send this to my phone,” he said and waited for me to nod before doing just that and then returning my phone on the table.In the safe zone.“It’s right up 1-91 before the elk refuge.”
I knew where the elk refuge was ... “Is it new?”
Calder quirked his head. “Maybe three years.”
“I’ve haven’t been back since college. No wonder I didn’t recognize it.”
“Looks like we have a place to start.” Rising, he took his mug and mine to the sink.
Did that mean he was going to take Rachel’s case?
I spun around and perched on the edge of the seat, my heart beating in my throat. “So you’re going to help me?”
Calder turned, surprise breaking the veneer of his chiseled face before he rumbled, “Of course.”
Air whooshed from my lungs, and I felt my eyes start to sting. He was going to help me. He was going to find Rachel.Everything was going to be okay.
Relief hit like a narcotic. Potent and psychotic. And it was the only explanation for what I did next—something I never would’ve or should’ve done otherwise: I lunged from the table and hugged my sister’s ex-boyfriend.
What a careless mistake.
Calder Stone might have been calm and collected, but there was nothingcoolabout him. Nothing cold at all, in fact, about the six feet of hot male pressed like a statue against my front. Intense and imposing. All those muscles I’d cataloged now mapped in 3D to my chest.
I shouldn’t have been doing that at all, but he was the only one who could help me find Rachel. If something happened to my sister ... I couldn’t lose anyone else.
“Thank you,” I murmured with a trembled exhale and clutched him tight, holding on to his stillness like it could keep me steady.
Without hardly moving, Calder managed to lift one arm to give me the lightest pat on the shoulder, like being embraced by a client was nothing more than an awkward cost of doing business.
Except it was more.
He might have felt like a fortress, but there was no hiding the feral thud of his heart from my cheek. It wasn’t still. It wasn’t steady. His pulse boomed like I’d injected him with 1mg of epi and brought him back to life.
“Lara . . .”
I breathed in deep, filling my lungs with the earthy scent of him: cedar and coffee mixed with just a hint of something warm. Maybe amber. And then I pulled away and banded my arms over my chest like I’d keep them better restrained in the future.
And I would.
I shouldn’t salivate over Rachel’s ex. Too bad I knew, with more medical detail than most, that attraction was chemical, not rational, so there was no stopping this ... electricity. No matter how much I shouldn’t. No matter what he’d done.
“I can’t thank you enough, Calder,” I said quickly, creating some professional distance between us. “And I’ll pay you, of course. I have fifty thousand—”
