Awakening Veronica by Heather Rainier Page A

looked about the club, her eyes not settling anywhere in particular. She slumped her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself, losing the connection between him and Travis.
    “Fair enough. Look at me,” he said softly. Her eyes turned up to his, her expression apologetic. Her gaze immediately flitted away before turning to him and then shifting again. He stroked his thumb gently across her chin and said, “I hope sometime you’ll trust us enough to tell us why that upsets you, Nika.” He didn’t push her, just waited for her response. Her lower lip trembled under his thumb and she finally nodded.
    Travis trailed a hand lightly over her hair. “You can trust us.”
    Her gaze fled again. “I should go home. It’s late and I need to work on my notes from tonight.”
    Hank exchanged a glance with Travis and gave him a brief nod. Moments before, she’d been trembling and aroused. Now she was stiff and near tears. “Sure. I’ll let Jack know we’re leaving.”
    “I’m sorry, guys.”
    She apologized several more times in the truck on the way out to the Divine Creek Ranch. They’d reassured her just as many times. With each stilted attempt at conversation by the men, she seemed more and more withdrawn. Hank became more determined to find the cause of her anxiety as the minutes past.
     
    * * * *
     
    Hank parked the truck in front of the house and Veronica reached into her clutch for the key. Feeling guilty for being such a baby, Veronica opened her mouth to speak but Hank cut her off. “Please don’t apologize again, Nika.”
    Hearing the endearment in his husky voice made her feel worse about the emergency jettison of the evening. “Okay.”
    Hank pulled the keys from the ignition and then gazed at her as he rested his arm on the seat behind her head. “Are you sorry for ending the evening or are you rethinking ending the evening?”
    Travis leaned in on her other side. “Good question, Hank, because I’m flexible here.”
    Smiling in appreciation that Hank was that intuitive, and Travis’s attempt at humor, she decided truth—or at least as much as she felt comfortable sharing—was the best thing to offer.
    “Rethinking ending the evening, but I am feeling bad about both. I made you leave the post-reception party when all your friends were there.”
    Hank’s masculine scent, combined with Travis’s warmth at her side in the close confines of the truck, was weaving a spell of seduction over her. Normally, she’d have begun to feel claustrophobic by this point, closed in on both sides by them in the darkness. Just thinking about it should’ve been enough to bring on the cold chills of panic but their presence seemed to provide a buffer for those feelings.
    “Would you like to come in for a bit? I can make coffee.”
    Hank said, “We’d like that.”
    Travis stroked her upper arms, inspiring gooseflesh and tightening nipples. “As long as it doesn’t keep you from your work, we’d love to.”
    “It’s quiet in the house. The nightclub is nice but the loud music and press of people was becoming overwhelming. I’d love to talk some more with both of you. I’ll be writing later tonight.”
    Hank nodded, looking like he had an opinion about that, but didn’t say anything else. They opened their doors and Travis held out his hand to help her down. She scooted over and the upholstery on the bench seat made her dress slide up a bit, revealing more leg than she intended. The smile on his face sent the butterflies fluttering in her stomach again but he made no remark as he helped her down.
    She looked up into his eyes and the sound of her heartbeat filled her ears as he gently stroked her cheek. His lips fascinated her as they bowed into another smile. She wanted to touch them and feel their supple warmth.
    Hank waited on the first porch step, his cowboy hat shading his eyes from the porch light as he watched them. His smile matched Travis’s, making her feel as though she was in an alternate